BACCHUS  DETHRONED, 


^IZE 


SS  AY. 


y 


BY 

FREDERICK  POWELL. 


If  1 


“If  alcohol  were  unknown,  half  the  sin,  and  three  parts  of  the 
poverty  and  unhappiness  in  this  world  would  disappear.” — Pro¬ 
fessor  Parkes,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 


NEW  YORK: 

National  Temperance  Society  and  Publication  House, 
No.  58  READE  STREET. 


1873- 


\\N(  S  ObO 

•  VV* 

TIIE  JAMES  TEARE  PRIZE  ESSAY. 


Tiie  Committee  acting  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Teare’s  trustees,  in 
giving  the  appended  award  of  the  Adjudicators,  feel  it  due  to  a 
number  of  the  competing  writers,  to  state  that  the  Adjudicators 
also  expressed  the  opinion  that  several  of  the  unsuccessful  essays 
were  of  great  value,  and  highly  deserving  of  publication. 

On  opening  the  sealed  communications,  it  was  found  that  the 
writer  of  the  essay  to  which  the  first  prize  had  been  awarded  is 
Mr.  Frederick  Powell,  of  Newcastle,  and  the  writer  of  the  essay 
to  which  the  second  prize  is  awarded  is  the  Ilev.  Dawson 
Burns,  M.A.,  of  London. 

AWARD  OF  TIIE  ADJUDICATORS. 

We,  the  undersigned,  having  been  selected  by  the  trustees  of 
the  late  James  Teare  to  act  as  adjudicators  for  the  prizes  left  by 
him  for  the  best  essays  on  Temperance,  unanimously  agree  that 
the  first  prize  [of  seventy  guineas]  be  given  to  the  writer  of  the 
essay  bearing  the  title  “  Bacchus  Dethroned.” 

We  also  agree  that  the  second  prize  [of  twenty  guineas]  be 
given  to  the  writer  of  the  essay  having  for  its  mjtto,  *'  Hear  me 
for  my  cause.” 

IIenry  Munroe,  M.D.,  F.L.S. 

Cu ARLES  (jar RETT. 

John  Kirk. 

5 


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3  * 


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-x.  . 

•  TH  ■  \  •  ; 

. 


CONTENTS. 


I. — The  Great  National  Curse.  page 

The  plague  of  the  Drink-system:  its  ravages  upon  the  Individual .  12 

The  moderate-drinker  a  diseased  man  :  his  risk  of  drunkenness... .  16-- 

The  drunkard’s  appetite  a  disease:  its  nature  and  name .  19 

Predisposition  to  drinking  capable  of  physical  transmission .  20 

The  Causes  of  drunkenness  and  the  Remedy .  21 

Effect  of  Drink  upon  the  Home-life  of  the  people . .  23 

The  Ravages  of  Drink  upon  the  Nation  at  large .  24 

The  vast  extent  of  Intemperance ,  and  the  other  sequences  of  Drinking..  25 

Police  returns,  though  defective,  demonstrate  their  increase .  26 

The  siatisties  for  Manchester  and  for  England  and  Wales .  29 

The  drinking -system  a  producer  of  disease  and  premature  death .  29  j 

Drunkards  and  traffickers  short-lived  :  authorities  cited .  30 

The  number  of  deaths  resulting  from  drinking .  31 

The  various  diseases  induced  by  intemperance .  33 

Insanity,  delirium-tremens,  and  predisposition  to  disease .  35 

The  dr >nking -system  regarded  as  a  crime-producer .  37 

Crime  measured  by  the  consumption  of  strong-drink .  38 

Crimes  specially  fostered  by  drink . .  39 

Violence  to  the  person,  murder,  suicide,  and  prostitution .  40 

The  traffickers  constant  and  notorious  violators  of  the  law .  42 

The  drinking -system  as  a  cause  of  pauperism .  44 

Evidence  of  the  Convocation  Report  of  the  Church .  45 

Expenditure  of  the  Working  classes  upon  in  toxicants . . .  46 

The  drinking -system  antagonistic  to  trade  and  commerce .  47 

It  employs  little  Labor,  and  abstracts  much  Capital .  48 

At  war  with  the  interests  of  Manufacturers .  49 

The  world’s  great  Industries  related  to  each  oth'er .  50 

The  liquor-traffic  an  exception  to  this  rule .  51 

England  seventeen  millions  of  pounds  poorer  in  1868  than  in  1867 .  56 

Scarcity  without  whisky  better  than  Plenty  with  it .  57 

A  National  Commercial  Balance  Sheet . j....  58 

-  -  ,  T  ' 


7 


8 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Loss  and  disaster  occasioned  through  the  Drinking  system .  G1 

Loss  of  productive  labor  and  of  property .  01 

Loss  to  the  government  from  the  inefficiency  of  the  army  and  navy...  02 

The  Drinking  system  obstructs  Education  and  Religion .  03 

The  attitude  and  duty  of  the  Christian  Church .  G7  v 

The  evils  depicted  How  necessarily  from  the  Drinking  system .  08 

A  respectable  Public-house,  impossible  with  the  drink .  09 

An  example:  and  several  impartial  Testimonies.... . .  70 

Evidence  of  a  Divine,  a  Statesman,  a  Judge,’  a*Thinker,  and  a  London 

Brewer .  72 

The  Drinking-system  more  deadly  and  devastating  than  War .  75 

More  destructive  than  Pestilence,  more  cruel  than  Famine .  70 

More  demoralizing  than  Slavery,  more  fatal  than  the  Opium-p’ague....  77 

The  consumption  of  Opium  on  the  increase  in  Britain .  77 

The  Alliance  American  Commissioner  and  Dr.  Oppenheim  cited .  78 

II. — The  Supposed  Dietetic  Value  of  Alcoholic  Leverages. 

The  nature  of  the  inquiry  instituted,  and  Eood  defined .  81 

The  Elements  of  which  the  Human  Structure  is  composed .  81 

The  physiological  Changes  which  the  body  undergoes .  83 

Classification  of  Foods,  in  regard  to  the  ends  they  subserve .  84 

Alcohol  not  a  flesh  and  tissue-forming  food . 87 

Alcohol  not  a  fuel,  or  warming  fhod .  87 

Alcohol  not  an  auxiliary  or  blood-forming  food .  88 

Alcohol  cannot  supply  the  place  of  Water .  88 

Alcohol  impedes  Digestion  :  experiments  of  Dr  Munroe .  89 

Cannot  take  the  place  of  potash,  or  peroxide  of  Iron .  89 

Alcohol  lacks  all  the  distinctive  features  of  food .  90 

Five  Objections  Answered. 

“  If  Alcohol  be  not  food,  the  beverages  containing  it  are” .  91 

“  Bread  itself  contains  Alcohol” .  93 

"  Many  other  articles  of  Diet  contain  Poison” .  93 

“  General  custom  is  in  favor  of  Alcohol  as  diet” .  94 

“That  there  is  no  broad  distinction  between  food  and  poison” .  95 

“  That  patients  live  upon  Brandy  a  considerable  time  ’ .  96 

Dr.  Lankester’s  Classification  of  Food . . .  97 

A  high  state  of  Civilization  exemplified .  98 

Intoxicating  liquors,  both  needless  and  injurious . .  99 

HI* — I  he  Physiological  Relations  of  Intoxicating  Liquors. 

Physiology  and  the  physical  properties  of  Alcohol . . .  100 

Alcohol  the  common  principle  of  fermented  ami  distilled  liquors  .......  101 

Alcohol  not  the  product  of  life  or  growth .  101 

Volatility  one  oi  the  properties  of  Alcohoh, . . . .  102 


CONTENTS. 


9 


PAGE 

Experiments  of  Professor  Binz.  and  others .  103 

Alcohol  an  Irritant  of  the  vital  tissues . .  104 

The  sensation  of  warmth  the  signal  of  inflammation .  104 

Alcohol  a  Narcotic  poison .  105 

Action  of  Alcohol  upon  the  Blood  and  Tissues .  106 

Stimulant  and  Depressant  defined.  Alcohol  not  the  former .  109 

The  action  of  Chlorodyne;  a  startling  case .  Ill 

Is  alcohol  a  sedative?  confusion  in  medical  nomenclature .  115 

Alcohol  a  Brain  Poison .  110 

-Effects  of  moderate  drinking .  117 

How  it  lowers  vitality  and  induces  a  feeling  of  weariness .  118 

Rest,  the  sole  remedy  for  the  exhaustion  of  overwork .  119 

Detracts  from  the  power  of  the  body .  120 

The  habitual  use  of  A  coholics  injures  the  brain  and  shortens  life. .  124  » 

Prevents  the  Constitution  from  adapting  itself  to  Climatic  changes .  126 

Evidence  of  the  Temperance  and  General  Provident  Institution .  130 

Moderate  drinking  condemned  by  non-abstainers .  134 

IV. — The  Social  and  Political  Argument. 

Natural  appetite  and  variety  of  foods . .....  136 

Acro-aromatics  and  Bitters  meet  a  distinct  want .  137 

No  natural  appetite  for  Alcohol  in  the  human  constitution .  138 

No  food  grown  ever  contains  Alcohol .  138 

The  Old  World  demand  for  intoxicating  liquors . . .  139 

Ancient  attempts  to  control  and  arrest  its  development .  140 

The  discovery  of  distillatiort,  and  the  eulogium  of  Doctors  increase  it  142 

The  origin  of  licensing  the  traffic  in  strong-drink .  143 

The  demand  iostered  by  Social  Usages .  143 

The  great  influence  and  responsibility  of  Females .  144 

The  legalizing  of  the  traffic  increases  the  demand .  144 

Supply  and  demand  in  relation  to  the  necessaries  of  life .  145 

For  luxuries  the  demand  increases  with  the  supply .  145 

Why  the  liquor-market  knows  no  glut . .  146 

Fallacies  of  Liquor  Vendors,  Brewers  and  Distillers .  147 

“Live  and  let  live,”  a  good  maxim  badly  applied .  149 

V. — The  Manufacture  of  Intoxicating  Liquor,  an  Immorality. 

Three  inspired  volumes  and  the  harmony  between  them .  152 

The  Will  of  God  regarding  food,  as  expressed  in  Providence .  153 

How  brewing  destroys  food.  The  process  explained .  154 

Vast  extent  of  the  waste  in  brewing  and  distilling . 156 

Intoxicants  necessarily  injure  both  Body  and  Soul .  .  1'57 

Our  Poor-law  system  a  premium  upon  vi$e,  etc.... .  158 


10 


CONTENTS. 


.  PAGE 

The  nature  of  Alcoholics  tends  to  disease  and  degradation .  159 

The  action  of  Hyosciamus  upon  the  body . .  160 

The  effects  of  Opium  and  Laudanum  compared....; .  161 

VI. — Teetotalism  a  Scientific  Truth. 

The  doctrine  of  expediency  defined .  162 

The  original  foundation  of  the  Temperance  enterprise .  163 

Teetotalism  in  the  beginning,  a  gigantic  experiment .  164 

Science  succeeded  experience  and  confirmed  its  teachings .  161* 

What  Chemistry  has  done  for  Teetotalism .  164 

Teetotalism  in  its  relations  to  Physiology  and  Hygiene .  165 

The  Medical  aspect  of  the  Temperance  question . .. .  166 

Christian  Morality  in  relation  to  Teetotalism .  169 

Christianity  teaches  us  to  rule  the  Life  by  regulating  the  Heart .  169 

It  calls  us  from  sensuous  gratification  to  mental  and  moral  aims .  170 

It  inculcates  the  practice  of  the  milder  virtues .  170 

It  demands  self-abnegation  for  the  good  of  others .  173 

In  all  these  respects  abstinence  does  the  same .  174 

The  New  Testament  inculcates  the  practice  of  true  Temperance .  174 

Signing  the  Pledge  in  harmony  with  Christian  morality .  177 

The  Pledge  defined,  explained  and  defended .  178 

Is  it  a  Sin  to  drink  a  glass  of  Ale  ? .  180 

♦ 

VII. — Teetotalism  in  Relation  to  the  Bible. 

•  #.  •  • 

The  argument  a  priori,  stated  by  Dr.  Lees . .‘ .  182  . 

The  Medical  declaration,  and  the  World’s  Temperance  Convention  ....  182 

At  the  Creation  no  want  for  Alcohol,  and  no  Alcohol  provided .  183^' 

Noah’s  fall  shows  that  the  grace  of  God  will  not  save  a  drinker .  183 

Moderate  drinkers  more  spirituous  than  spiritual .  184 

The  case  ot  Lot,  a  second  warning .  184 

The  Israelites  in  Egypt  and  their  subsequent  temptations .  185 

A  teetotal  Priesthood,  and  teetotal  Sacrifices .  185 

The  Children  of  Israel  teetotalers  for  forty  years .  187 

Their  National  declension  through  drink .  ...  188 

Attempts  made  to  correct  the  evil . ; .  192 

The  Essenes  and  Therapeutae:  teetotal  communities .  194 

JPas  Jesus  Christ  an  abstainer  f .  191 

The  Miracle  at  Cana  in  Galilee,  examined .  195 

The  Supper  of  the  Lord  and  the  Passover  Wine .  198 

The  Temperance  Bible  Commentary  cited .  199 

The-  CiV&e  of  the  Corinthian- Church..- . . .  201 

Total-abstinence  passages  in  the  New  Testament .  201 

Objection. — ‘  The  Bible  recommends  wine” .  203 


CONTENTS. 


11 


PAGE 


Different  kinds  of  wine  Generic  and  Specific  terms  in  the  Bible .  204 

The  use  of  unfermented  wine  prevalent  in  ancient  times .  211 

Such  beverages  nowhere  condemned  in  the  Bible .  213 

Intoxicating  wines  nowhere  sanctioned  in  the  Bible .  213 

Modern  Wines  analogous  to  the  condemned  “  mixed  wines” .  213 

Objection — "  Paul  prescribed  a  little  wine  to  Timothy” .  215 

The  testimony  of  Athenseus  as  to  medical-wine .  215 

Objection — ••  Moderate  drinking  implied  in  many  texts” .  216V 

Examples  of  the  absurdity  of  this  argument . '. .  216 

Objection — “  The  new  wine  burst  the  old  bottles” .  217 

Facts  misunderstood  :  inference  therefore  false . .  218 

Objection. —  ‘That  the  Bible  nowhere  commands  abstinence” .  218 

Answer. — It  teaches  abstinence  in  various  ways .  220 


\  III. — God’s  Great  Remedy  for  the  World’s  Great  Curse. 


National  evils  require  National  remedies .  221 

Moral  suasion  versus  legal  Prohibition . y£. 

Abstinence  for  the  Individual,  and  Prohibition  for  the  Community... .C222  > 

The  remedy  applied,  lost,  and  found  again . . .  224 

The.  universal  adaptation  of  the  remedy .  226 

Examples.  Saltaire — Tyrone — Bessbrook,  etc .  227 

Two  contrasted  Northumberland  villages . . .  230 

Palliatives  Education.  Recreation.  Better  Dwellings...'. .  232 

Prevent  adulteration  and  encourage  /ume-drinking .  236 

Preach  the  Gospel  and  evangelize  the  people . * .  236 

Enact  Free-trade  in  drink  and  impose  heavy  penalties .  238 

Treat  habitual  drunkards  as  lunatics. .r .  239 

The  dreams  of  the  past  become  the  realities  of  the  preseut .  241 


IX. — Legislation  and  the  Liquor  Traffic. 


The  Temperance  movement  a  great  political  agitation . / 242  ) 

The  ends  of  Government.  Protection  of  Life,  Liberty,  and  Property. 

The  benefit  of  the  Community . * . . . 

Politics  and  political  economy  defined . . .  243 

The  sphere  and  limitations  of  Social  Legislation .  244 

Preventive  Legislation  the  best  sort  of  law^, .  244 

Reciprocal  duties  of  Governors  and  Governed .  244 

The  Liquor  traffic  opposed  to  the  great  euds  of  Government .  245 

A  violation  of  a  man’s  right  to  his  Life . . .  246 

Of  a  man’s  right  to  his  Liberty .  247 

Of  a  man’s  right  to  the  full  use  of  his  Property. .  248 

The  Liquor  traffic  hostile  to  the  welfare  of  the  Community .  249 

It  corrupts  and  paralyzes  also  the  executive  authority .  253 

A  Maine  Law  versus  a  Permissive  local  option  Law .  253  v 


12 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

What  the  Permissive  Bill  does  not  propose  to  do — 

Not  to  suppress  Public  Houses . i .  251 

Not  to  dictate  what  people  shall  eat  or  drink .  234 

Not  to  take  the  Licensing  power  from  the  Magistrates .  255 

Not  to  amend  the  Licensing-system  at  all .  255 

Not  to  stop  further  Legislation... . * .  255 

The  Country  fully  ripe  for  the  measure . . .  256 

The  alleged  requirements  of  the  Revenue .  256 

A  tax  upon  vice,  “penny  wise  and  pound  foolish” . .  256 

Unjust  and  unequal  taxation  involved  in  the  system .  257 

The  suppression  of  the  Traffic  and  an  increased  Revenue .  259 

The  Permissive  Bill  a  moderate  measure . * .  2G0 

That  it  is  not  tyrannical  nor  impracticable .  261 

That  itis  neither  unconstitutional  nor  justly  objectionable  .  261 

That  it  will  deprive  no  one  of  an  honest  livelihood .  264 

The  suppression  of  the  Liquor  traffic  a  stern  necessity .  264 

Internal  enemies  most  to  be  dreaded  by  a  Nation .  266 

The  conditions  of  a  true  civilization .  96$ 


BACCHUS  DETHRONED. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TIIE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

Prop.  1. — 11  That  the  drinking-system,  including  the  manufac¬ 
ture,  sale,  and  use  of  Alcoholic  liquors  as  beverages ,  is  the 
greatest  evil  in  our  land:' 

“  Poor  race  of  men  ! 

Pearly  ye  pay  for  your  primal  fall;  m 

Some  flowerets  of  Eden  ye  still  inherit, 

But  the  trail  of  the  serpent  is  over  them  all!” 

So  spake  the  pitying  spirit  of  Moore’s  Paradise  and  the  Peri , 
as  wandering  o’er  Egypt’s  land  of  wonders,  she  weepingly  beheld 
the  ravages  of  that  terrible  plague,  which,  sparing  neither  age, 
sex,  nor  rank,  engulphed  all  in  one  common  ruin. 

We  go  forth,  and,  hovering  as  in  vision,  over  the  wide  field  of 
humanity,  we  also  discern  amid  its  sweet  flowerets  the  serpent’s 
trail,  for  we  trace  the  ravages  of  a  deadlier  plague  than  ever 
desolated  Egypt,  one  more  fatal  to  life  than  that  which  slew 
her  first-born  sons — a  plague  which,  coming  down  from  remote 
ages,  spares  neither  age,  nor  sex,  nor  class,  and  unlike  that 
eastern  pestilence,  demoralizes  and  degrades  while  it  destroys. 

We  propose  here  to  trace  the  ravages  of  this  terrible  plague, 
— the  drinking  system  of  our  land, — first  upon  the  individual, 
then  upon  the  home-life  of  the  people,  and  finally  upon  the 
nation  at4  large. 

First  let  us  trace  its  ravages  upon  the  individual. 

The  vice  of  intemperance  is  a  most  disgusting  and  demoraliz¬ 
ing  one,  and  leads  to  every  species  of  abomination  and  crime. 
Yet  we  are  so  sadly  familiar  with  it,  that  we  appear  scarcely  to 
realize  its  demoralizing  and  destructive  character.  Intemper¬ 
ance,  however,  is  the  most  loathsome  and  ruinous  of  vices,  and 
an  intemperate  man  is  the  most  pitiable  spectacle  upon  which 
any  thinking  person  can  gaze. 

2 


13 


14 


TIIE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


There  are  many  pari  scenes  in  this  world — scones  so  rrd  as  to 
cause  thy  tear  to  roll  down  iron  cheeks,  and  make  even  hearts 
of  adamant  feel;  hut  none  are  half  so  sad  as  that  of  a  poor 
degraded  set. 

The  diunkard  is  a  degraded  man,  intellectually.  Our  Creator 
lias  endowed  us  with  mental  faculties,  that  vve  may  work  out  the 
higher  purposes  of  life,  and  fulfil  our  grand  destiny.  lie  has 
endowtd  us  with  judgment  and  understanding,  that  we  may 
inquire  into  the  causes  of  things,  and  by  comparing  one  thing 
with  another,  arrive  at  truth,  lie  has  also  endowed  us  with 
imagination  and  fancy,  that  we  may,  as  it  wrere,  revel  in  a  world 
ot  beauty  of  our  own  creation.  He  has  endowed  us  with  memory, 
that  we  may  treasure  up  events  and  facts,  and  thus*,  garnish  our 
mind  with  mental  wealth.  Now  intemperance  obscures  the  judg¬ 
ment,  and^weakens  the  understanding,  so  that  a  man  is  unable 
to  discover  or  to  appreciate  truth.  It  distorts  the  imagination, 
and  tills  the  chambers  of  the  soul  with  pictures  obscene  and 
l'oul.  It  perverts  and  paralyzes  the  memory,,  which  instead  of 
treasuring  up  useful  knowledge,  becomes  a  receptacle  for  the 
dregs  of  knowledge,  and  thus  adds  to  the  soul’s  pollution.  Thus 
intellectually,  ti.e  drunkard  is  a  degraded  man. 

M  ui  has  also  a  mot al  constitution.  There  is  conscience,  that 
faithful  monitor  implanted  in  the  human  breast.  When  wo 
attempt  to  do  wrong,  conscience  says,  “Beware!  and  think  of 
the  divine  law  and  the  consequences!''  When  we  walk  uprightly 
and  do  well,  then  we  seem  to  hear  her  sweet  voice  crying,  ‘’Well 
done!”  There  is  also  that  keen  appreciation  of  the  good,  the 
beautiful,  and  the  true,  and  those  noble  affections  that  so  adorn 
and  bless  human  nature.  But  intemperance  hurls  conscience 
from  her  lofty  seat,  and  her  voice  ceases,  or  sounds  unheeded; 
those  noble  sentiments  of  rectitude  and  purity  arc  weakened, 
the  kindly  affections  of  the  human  breast  become  withered, 
whilst  every  evil  passion  and  vile  propensity  are  fostered  into 
frightful  development  and  ruinous  exercise.  Thus  in  his  moral 
nature  the  diunkard  is  a  degraded  man. 

Man  has  also  a  physical  constitution,  a  body;  which  is  indeed 
a  noble  structure,  and  fit  tenement  for  the  immortal  principle 
that  occupies  it.  IIow  expressive  the  human  countenance ! 
Now  glowing  with  bright  intelligence  and  thought,  now  beaming 
with  satisfaction  and  delight,  and  anon  beclouded  with  sorrow 
and  cure.  The  body  also  upright,  with  brow  turned  to  the  sky, 


ITS  RAVAGES  UPON  THE  INDIVIDUAL. 


15 


as  though  indicating  that  we  were  designed  for  something  nobler 
than  a  mere  animal  existence.  But  intemperance  sadiy  dis- 
figuies  and  conupts  our  frame.  The  countenance  loses  its  tine 
expression,  and,  bloated  and  marred,  becomes  a  terrible  reflec¬ 
tion  of  the  ravages  going  on  within  that  man’s  higher  nature. 
The  body  is  crushed  earthward,  but  not  with  the  weight  of 
years;  a  terrible  palsy  seizes  upon  it,  and  stripped  of  beauty, 
symmetry,  and  strength,  and  corrupted  by  disease,  it  sinks  pre¬ 
maturely  into  the  drunkard’s  grave. 

Thus  intellectually,  morally  and  physically,  the  drunkard  is  a 
degraded  and  brutalized  man.  Upon  the  altar  of  intern peraneo 
be  sacrifices  all  that  can  make  life  beautiful  and  desirable,  bis 
manhood  and  his  freedom,  and  he  becomes  a  miserable  slave, 
bound  to  the  rock  by  the  chain  of  bis  own  vices,  and  lashed  by 
the  in-rolling  waves  of  despair.  While  the  intempeiate  man  is 
a  slave,  the  Land  that  has  bound  him  is  bis  own.  11  is  slavery  is 
the  lesult  of  a  voluntary  act,  of  which  the  fiequent  repetition  has 
enthralled  him.  Mot  the  less  does  the  Jaw  of  narcotism  make 
him  the  slave  to  a  lawless  and  uncontrollable  passion,  to  gratify 
which,  he  is  willing  to  sacrifice  his  health  and  honor,  even  self- 
respect  and  natural  affection,  and  to  quench  for  a  time  the  bright 
light  of  reason.  “What,”  says  Dr.  W.  E.  Channing,  ‘  is  the  great 
essential  evil  of  intemperance?  The  reply  is  given,  wdieri  I  say 
that  intemperance  is  the  vohiniaiy  extinction  of  reason.  The 
great  evil  is  inward  or  spiritual.  The  intemperate  man  divests 
himself  for  a  time  of  his  rational  and  moral  nature,  casts  from 
himself  self-consciousness  and  self-command,  brings  on  frenzy, 
and  by  repetition  of  this  insanity,  prostrates  more  and  more  his 
rational  and  moral  powers,  lie  sins  immediately  and  directly 
against  the  rational  nature,  that  divine  principle  which  dis¬ 
tinguishes  between  truth  and  falsehood,  between  right  and 
wrung  action,  which  distinguishes  man  from  the  brute.  This  is 
the  essence  of  the  vice,  what  constitutes  its  peculiar  guilt  and 
woe,  and  what  should  particularly  impress  and  awaken  those  who 
are  laboring  for  its  suppression.  All  the  other  evils  of  intemper¬ 
ance  are  light  compared  with  this,  and  almost  all  flow  from  this; 
and  it  is  right,  it  is  to  be  desired,  that  all  other  evils  should  he 
joined  with  and  follow  this.  It  is  to  be  desired  when  a  man  lifts  a 
suicidal  arm  against  his  higher  life,  when  he  quenches  reason  and 
conscience,  that  he  and  all  others  should  receive  solemn,  start¬ 
ling  warning  of  the  greatness  of  his  guilt;  that  terrible  outward 


16 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


calamities  should  bear  witness  to  the  inward  ruin  which  he  is 
working 5  that  the  handwriting  of  judgment  and  woe  on  his 
countenance,  form,  and  whole  condition,  should  declare  what  a 
fearful  thing  it  is  for  a  man,  God’s  rational  offspring,  to  renounce 
his  reason  and  become  a  brute.” 

The  drunkard  is  not  only  a  degraded  man,  he  is  also  a  diseased 
man.  This  fact  is  often  overlooked. 

We  must  remember,  however,  that  the  terrible  aspect  of  the 
drunkard,  and  all  those  repulsive  crimes  that  render  him  an 
object  of  disgust  and  terror,  flow  from  a  disease,  the  power  and 
horror  of  which  none  can  know  but  those  who  suffer  from  it. 

When  we  gaze  upon  the  drunkard  as  a  diseased  and  suffering 
man,  he  becomes  an  object,  not  of  unmitigated  contempt,  but  of 
profound  commiseration.  We  feel  almost  inclined  to  forget 
his  vices  in  our  pity  for  his  sorrows;  and  we  long  to  tell  him, 
that  though  we  cannot  tolerate  his  vice,  we  can  and  do  sym¬ 
pathize  with  his  weakness  and  pain,  and  desire  to  lend  him  a 
helping  hand,  in  order  to  restore  him" to  health  and  sobriety. 

We  say  that  the  drunkard  is  a  diseased  man,  and  so,  also,  is 
the  (so  called)  moderate  drinker .  The  latter  suffers  exactly 
from  the  same  disease  as  the  former;  there  is  no  difference 
whatever  in  kind,  only  in  degree.  The  moderate  drinker  has 
this  disease  in  a  mild  form,  and  in  him  it  shows  itself  in  its 
earlier  stages.  The  drunkard  suffers  from  it  in  a  severer  form, 
and  in  its  advanced  stages.  Where  the  moderate  drinker  now 
stands,  boasting  of  his  strength,  and  heedless  of  that  disease 
which  has  already  begun  to  work  in  his  body,  there  once  stood 
the  drunkard,  boasting  likewise.  Where  the  drunkard  now  lies, 
hopelessly  enslaved,  many  moderate  drinkers  will  assuredly  lie 
in  future  years. 

It  has  been  computed  that  one-thirteenth  of  all  moderate 
drinkers  eventually  die  drunkards^  How  many  then,  think  you, 
become  drunkards?  The  moderate  drinker,  as  he  sips  his  ruby 
wine  or  foaming  ale,  thinks  not  how  dangerous  and  fascinating 
is  the  enemy  he  is  introducing  within  the  citadel  of  life.  lie 
now  boasts  of  his  firmness  of  purpose  and  strength  of  resolve, 
and  fancies  that  he  is  perfect  master  of  the  situation — that 
he  can  take  a  glass  or  leave  it  at  his  pleasure,  and  even  pities 
those  silly,  weak  fellows,  who  can’t  restrain  their  appetites,  but 
are  continually  plunging  into  excess.  But  will  he  always  bo 
able  to  stand  thus  firm?  ?  Alas!  experience  warrants  us  in 


THE  DRUNKARD’S  DISEASE. 


17 


declaring  that  a  treat  many  drinkers  will  not  be  able  to  do  so; 
that  one-thirteenth  of  them  will  find  a  drunkard's  grave  :  and 
that  perhaps  two  or  three  others  will  become  drunkards.  Tho 
dancer,  in  fact,  is  greatest  to  those  among  them  who  are  of 
a  highly  sensitive,  or  sociable  nature,  men  full  of  generous 
sympathies  and  warm  impulses.  When  a  moderate  drinker 
informs  me  that  there  is  no  fear  of  his  becoming  a  drunkard  ; 
the  reply  is,  that  in  such  case  it  must  he  owing  to  the  preventive 
operation  of  some  powerful  ruling  passion,  such  as  avarice,  or 
to  the  absence  of  some  physical  and  social  qualities  necessary 
to  make  him  a  drunkard.  lie  may  be  of  a  heavy  lymphatic 
temperament,  and  of  a  very  even  temper,  subject  to  no  nervous 
excitement,  alternating  with  depression,  on  whom  narcotics  do 
not  appear  to  act  as  upon  other  men.  lie  can  resist  their  action 
well,  and  it  takes  a  large  dose  to  affect  him.  Such  persons  do 
not  readily  become  drunkards,  but  they  are  capable  of  becoming 
that  which  is  quite  as  disgusting,  though  perhaps,  not  quite  so 
dangerous  ;  they  can  become  soakers. 

Now,  here  are  four  men  before  me,  moderate  drinkers,  taken 
from  the  life. 

A.  is  a  coarse,  brutal-fellow,  whose  only  idea  of  happiness  is 
the  gratification  of  his  passions.  The  higher  joys  of  life  he 
knows  not,  and.  therefore,  has  no  relish  for  them.  II is  mental 
powers  are  uncultivated,  and  his  moral  nature  is  a  barren 
wilderness.  In  fact,  he  is  low  mentally,  low  morally,  but  very 
str<  ng  in  his  animal  nature. 

B.  is  a  very  easy  sort  of  a  fellow,  of  even  temper  and  heavy 
temperament.  lie  eats  well  and  sleeps  well,  and  concerns  him¬ 
self  little  as  to  how  things  are  going  on  around  him.  It  takes  a 
great  deal  to  excite  him,  and  not  a  little  to  depress  him.  Ills 
favorite  adage  is,  Come  day,  go  day,  God  send  Sunday.” 

C.  is  a  fine  thoughtful  fellow,  if  anything,  of  a  metaphysical 
turn  of  mind.  lie  finds  his  pleasure  in  mathematics  and  philo¬ 
sophy.  He  is  a  man  of  strong  common  sense,  and  can  take  a 
common-sense  view  of  things.  Clouds  to  him  are  clouds, 
whether  they  be  gray  or  gilded  with  all  glorious  hues.  His 
mind  is  not  tinged  with  romance,  and  though  he  may  be  able  to 
appreciate  good  poetry,  he  is  not  of  a  poetic  turn  of  mind.  IIo 
is  characterized  by  calm  thought,  soundness  of  judgment,  and 
tameness  of  the  imaginative  faculty.  In  fact,  he  is  of  such  stuff 
as  mathematicians  and  savans  are  made  of. 


18 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

D  is  a  man  combining  in  his  temperament  the  nervous  and 
sanguine  elements.  He  possesses  a  lively  fancy,  a  powerful 
imagination,  and  is  the  creature  of  romance  and  of  poetic 
frenzy.  He  is  full  of  generous  sympathies  and  strong  emotions, 
and  delights  to  give  vent  to  them  in  music  and  in  song.  lie  is 
strong  in  his  social  nature.  To  his  happiness,  company  is  a 
SINE  QUA  NON,  for  it  is  here  he  shines,  and  becomes  the  idol 
of  society.  He  is  not  deficient  in  force  of  intellect-,  but  the 
strength  of  his  emotional  nature,  and  of  the  imaginative  faculty, 
makes  him  prone  to  extremes.  He  is  a  child  of  genius  and  of 
song,  and  is,  in  fact,  of  such  stuff  as  poets  are  made  of. 

Now  I  ask,  which  of  these  four  are  most  likely  to  fall  and 
become  drunkards?  A.  and  D.,  of  course ;  the  other  two  are  not 
so  liable,  and  this  is  borne  out  by  history  aud  experience. 
Whilst  the  poets  have  erred  and  fallen,  the  philosophers  have 

remained  sober. 

“  The  passionate  heart  of  the  poet, 

It  fires  with  folly  and  vice.” 

Hafiz,  a  favorite  Persian  poet,  thus  sings,  “  The  roses  have 
come,  nor  can  anything  afford  so  much  pleasure  as  a  goblet  of 
wine.  The  enjoyments  of  life  are  vain  5  bring  wine,  for  the 
trappings  of  the  world  are  perishable.” 

The  far-famed  and  musical  Anacreon  could  sing, 

“  ’Tis  better  to  lie  drunk  than  dead.” 

And  after  spending  a  voluptuous  life,  he  died  at  the  age.  of 
seventy,  choked  by  a  grapestone  in  the  act  of^drinking  new  wine. 

Our  modern  poets  also,  lor  the  most  part,  have  erred,  and 
fallen,  and  perished ;  many  of  the  sweetest  singers  of  modern 

times  were  victims  of  intemperance. 

The  philosophers,  however,  were  sober  men,  and  many  of 
theyi  were  water-drinkers;  and  in  this  respect  practically 
exemplified  those  precepts  of  sobriety  and  truth  which  they  gave 
to  the' world.  Witness  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  Diogenes,  Epicurus, 
and  Seneca,  among  the  ancients ;  and  many  of  our  mo  lorn 
philosophers  have  worthily  emulated  them.  Of  the  great  Loc^e 
it  is  said,  “  His  diet  was  the  same  as  other  people’s,  except  that 
he  usually  drank  nothing  but  water  ;  and  he  thought  that  his 
abstinence  in  this  respect  had  preserved  his  life  so  long,  although 
his  condition  was  so  weak.’ 

The  drunkard,  we  have  said,  is  a  diseased  man.  We  will  now 


the  drunkard’s  disease.  19 

attempt  to  describe  his  disease,  to  mark  its  symptoms,  and  to 
trace  its  causes. 

The  drunkard’s  disease  is  known  by  different  names,  as, 
Dipsomania  (from  dpso ,  thirst,  and  mania ,  madness),  thirst- 
madness;  Oinomania ,  (from  oinos ,  wine,  and  mania,)  wine-mad¬ 
ness  ;  and  Methyomania ,  a  madness  for  drink. 

The  disease  is  that  peculiar  state  of  the  nervous  system 
brought  on  by  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  giving  rise  to  an 
irresistible  craving  for  strong  drink. 

The  diagnostic  mark  of  the  disease  is,  in  fact,  an  irresistible 
propensity  to  swallow  down  large  quantities  of  intoxicating  drinks. 
This  is  indeed  a  true  madness,  a  vinomania.  In  some  persons  it 
comes  out  in  paroxysms,  and  is  periodic;  but  in  others  it  is 
chronic.  The  individual  affected  with  Periodic  Oinomania, 
abstains  for  weeks  or  months  from  all  stimulants,  and  frequently 
loathes  them  for  the  same  period.  But  by  degrees  he  becomes 
uneasy,  listless  and  depressed,  feels  incapable  of  application  and 
restless,  and  at  last  begins  to  drink  till  he  is  intoxicated.  He 
awakes  from  a  restless  sleep,  seeks  again  a  repetition  of  the  in¬ 
toxicating  dose,  and  continues  the  same  course  for  a  week  or  two 
longer.  Therr  a  stage  of  apathy  and  depression  follows,  during 
which  he  feels  a  loathing  for  stimulants,  is  the  prey  of  remorse,  and 
bitterly  regrets  yielding  to  his  malady.  This  is  followed  by  fresh 
vigor, ^diligent  application  to  business,  and  a  determined  resolu¬ 
tion  never  again  to  give  way.  But,  alas  !  sooner  or  later  the  parox¬ 
ysm  recurs,  and  the  same  scene  is  reenacted,  till  ultimately,  un¬ 
less  the  disease  be  checked,  he  falls  a  victim  to  the  physical  effects 
of  intemperance, — becomes  maniacal  or  imbecile,  or  affected  with 
the  form  of  the  disease  next  to  be  mentioned. —  See  Dr.  Hutchi¬ 
son,  cited  in  Carpenter's  Physiology  of  Temperance,  p.  38. 

In  Chronic  Oinomania ,  “  The  patient  is  incessantly  under  the 
most  overwhelming  desire  for  stimulants.  He  will  disregard 
every  impediment,  sacrifice  comfort  and  reputation,  withstand 
the  claims  of  affection,  consign  his  family  to  miserv  and  disgrace, 
and  deny  himself  the  common  necessaries  of  life,  to  gratify  his 
insane  propensity.  In  the  morning  morose  and  fretful,  disgusted 
with  himself,  and  dissatisfied  with  all  around  him  ;  weak  and 
tremulous,  incapable  of  any  exertion  either  of  mind  or  body,  his 
first  feeling  is  a  desire  for  stimulants,  with  every  fresh  dose  of 
which  lie  recovers  a  certain  degree  of  vigor,  both  of  body  and  mind, 
till  he  feels  comparatively  comfortable.  A  few  hours  pass  with- 


2Q  THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

out  the  craving  being'  so  strong  J  but  it  soon  returns  and  the 
patient  drinks  till  intoxication  is  produced,  l  ien  succeed  t 
restless  sleep,  the  suffering,  the  comparative  tranqur Htj.  the 
excitement,  and  the  state  of  insensibility  ;  and  un  css  .tbso.utc.y 
secluded  from  nil  means  of  gratifying  the  propensity,  the 
patient  continues  the  same  course  till  he  d.cs  or  becom  e 
imbecile.  '  This  is  that  fearful  state  portrayed  by  Charles  L.ti.h, 
i„  which  reason  revisits  the  mind  only  during  the  transient 

■ncriod  of  incipient  intoxication. 

‘•It  must  be  remarked,  that  in  all  these  forms  of  the  disease 
the  patient  is  perfectly  incapable  of  self-control ;  that  he  is  im¬ 
pelled  by  an  irresistible  impulse  to  gratify  ns  propensity  ,  t  . 
while  the  paroxysm  is  on  him,  he  is  regardless  ot  Ins  health,  h.s 
life,  and  all  that  can  make  life  dear  to  him  ;  that  be  w  pi  one 
dissipate  his  propel  y,  and  easily  becomes  the  prey  of  the  deSign- 
in-  that  in  many  cases  he  exhibits  a  propensity  to  commit 
homicide,  or  suicide,  lie  is  thus  dangerous  to  hnnsel  and 
others:  and,  however  responsible  he  may  have  been  for  b 
in.,  the  disease  on  himself,  his  responsibility  ceases  as  soon  as 
he”comes  under  the  influence  of  the  malady.”  Ibid. 

A  predisposition  to  this  disease,  if  not  the  disease  itself,  may  ho 
transmitted  from  parent  to  child,  and  thus  all  the  horrors  oi  the 
drunkard's  lot  may  he  handed  down  from  one  generation  to 
another.  Many  drunkards  have  confessed  to  me  that  thc.r 
fathers  and  grandfathers  were  drunkards,  as  well  as  many  of 

their  brothers  and  sisters.  •  # 

The  causes  of  this  malady  may  be  divided  into  the  remote, 

the  predisposing  the  exciting  and  the  proximate. 

The  remote  causes  are  The  social  drinking  usages  of  society, 
—the  legalized  facilities  for  obtaining  intoxicating  liquor  and 
a  false  estimate  as  to  the  nature  and  properties  of  strong  drink. 

The  predisposing  causes  are -.-Physical  or  mental  exhaustion, 
however  induced,— hemorrhage,— melancholia,  and  all  diseases 
that  leave  an  oppressed  state  of  the  nervous  system. 

The  exciting  cause  is  the  actual  n<c  of  intoxicating  liquor. 

The  proximate  cause  of  the  mental  malady,  is  t  lat  pecu  inr 
state  of  the  nervous  system  which  occasions  an  irresistible  crav¬ 
ing  for  strong  drink;  and  this,  in  fact,  is  the  disease  itse  f. 

Now  the  predisposing  and  remote  causes  may  exist  in  lull 
force,  but  if  intoxicating  liquor  be  abstained  from,  Oinomama 
cannot  bo  induced. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  DRUNKARD’S  DISEASE. 


21 


Physical  or  nervous  exhaustion,  and  the  state  of  convalescence 
alter  lever,  etc  ,  may  give  rise  to  a  craving  for  support,  just  as 
when  the  body  has  used  up  its  last  supply  of  food  it  craves  for 
more,  but  this  craving  is  not  specifically  for  intoxicating  liquor, 
unless,  indeed,  it  has  been  administered  with  a  liberal  hand 
during  the  course  of  the  previous  disease.  Such  persons,  we 
are  aware,  often  fly  to  strong  drink ;  but  why  ?  Because  they 
believe  it  to  contain  that  support,  and  to  be  capable  of  confer¬ 
ring  that  relief,  which  they  need. 

But  no  person  ever  suffered  from  Oinomania  who  did  not,  in 
the  first  place,  use  intoxicating  liquor;  and  it  is  the  so-called 
use  of  these  liquors  that  produces  this  disease.  What  people 
generally  term  the  abuse  of  strong  drink  is  the  effect  of  this 
disease.  The  use  begets  the  abuse. 

We  cannot  too  strongly  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader 
this  fact: — that  it  is  of  tiie  nature  of  intoxicating  liquor  to 
produce  the  disease  just  describfd.  Hence  all  who  drink 
them  regularly,  to  any  extent,  even  though  it  be  strictly  within 
the  so-called  bounds  of  moderation,  must  expect  to  suffer; 
indeed,  there  are  very  few  moderate  drinkers  who  do  not  suffer 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent  fro  n  this  disease. 

Anticipating  for  a  moment  a  later  argument,  I  here  ask, 
Does  not  the  nature  of  the  disease  clearly  point  out  the  remedy? 
That  remedy  is : 

1st. — The  removal  of  the  remote  causes;  the  social  drinking 
usages  of  society; — the  legalized  facilities  for  obtaining  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquors, — and  the  prevailing  ignorance  in  reference  to 
their  qualities. 

2d. —  By  judicious  treatment  to  meet  the  predisposing  causes. 
Enjoin  rest  and  quiet,  and  use  nature’s  own  stimulants,  which 
are  mostly  of  a  hygienic  character. 

3d. — Abstain  entirely  from  the  exciting  cause — Intoxicating 
Liquor. 

4th. — Counteract  the  disease  itself  by  a  judicious  course  of 
treatment,  that  shall  tend  to  soothe  the  nervous  system,  and  to 
restore  the  stomach  to  its  normal  and  healthy  condition. 

11  aving  marked  the  operation  of  the  drinking  system  upon 
the  individual,  let  us  now  follow  the  inebriate  to  his  home,  and 
trace  its  operation  upon  the  home  life. 

What  is  home?  It  does  not  consist  merely  of  four  walls 
covered  in  from  the  sky  by  a  roof;  neither  does  it  consist  merely 


22 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


of  a  certain  number  of  rooms,  however  comftytably  or  splendidly 
furnished.  Homes  are  not  places  merely  devoted  to  the  various 
processes  of  animo- vegetable  life.  People  may  vegetate  in  these 
places,  but  they  do  not  live.  They  eat,  drink,  and  sleep  in  them, 
but  such  processes  do  not  realize  our  ideal  of  home.  What,  then, 
is  home?  It  is  that  sacred  spot  where  affections  centre,  and 
where  domestic  joy  and  purity  abound.  The  domestic  state  is 
of  divine  origin,  and  a  necessity  of  man’s  nature.  It  is  that 
to  which  every  young  man,  and  every  young  woman,  aspires. 
They  seek  congenial  companionship,  and  a  home  where  they  may 
take  shelter  from  the  rude  storms  of  life,  and  live  and  ba,sk  in 
the  smiles  of  each  other,  and  of  the  children  deriving,  existence 
from  them.  Without  home  man  is  not  perfect,  neither  is  he 
happy.  There  are  certain  affections  and  sentiments  which  must 
lie  dormant  until  called  into  exercise  by  the  domestic  state. 
Were  man  to  attain  to  the  age  of  Methuselah,  there  would  still 
remain  some  chord  unstrung,  till  rendered  musical  by  the  sweet 
influences  of  home.  The  sexes  are  constituted  for  the  social 
state,  and  for  the  society  of  each  other,  and  we  possess  affections 
which,  if  not  exercised  here,  either  shrivel  up,  or  seek  to  attach 
themselves  to  unworthy  objects. 

“  The  heart,  like  a  tendril,  accustomed  to  cling, 

Let  it  grow  where  it  will,  cannot  flourish  alone; 

But-will  lean  to  the  nearest  and  loveliest  thing 
It  can  twine  with  itself,  and  make  closely  its  own.” 

The  babe  becomes  a  child,  the  child  a  youth,  the  youth  a  man; 
and  during  this  progression  from  the  cradle  to  maturity,  the 
budding  affections  cluster  around  the  sacred  precincts  of  home; 
and  when  the  man  goes  forth  into  the  world,  he  carries  the 
impression  with  him,  and  his  noblest  and  purest  thoughts 
become  associated  with  his  former  home-life.  A  mother’s  tender¬ 
ness,  a  sister’s  love,  a  brother’s  counsel — are  things  he  can  never 
forget. 

The  domestic  state  is  designed  for  the  training  and  perfecting 
of  our  whole  nature — physical,  moral,  and  intellectual.  In 
this  arrangement  there  is  something  truly  beautiful ;  and  that 
whether  we  behold  it  among  the  industrious  classes,  or  those 
more  favored  by  rank  and  fortune.  Home  is,  in  fact,  a  nursery 
where  noble  principles  receive  ear'y  development.  It  is  the  heaat 
of  the  social  world.  Men  are  what  their  homes  are  \  children 
are  wliat  their  homes  make  them.  The  prosperity  and  greatness, 


ITS  RAVAGES  UPON  THE  HOME-LIFE.  23 

the  stability  and  permanence,  the  strength  and  grandeur  of  a 
nation  depend  in  great  measure  upon  the  purity  and  integrity 
of  the  domestic  state.  The  general  character  of  a  nation  is  the 
aggregate  of  the  special  character  of  its  home-life.  Patriotism 
and  love  of  home  are  like  Siamese  twins,  and  cannot  be  severed. 
When  a  nation’s  homes  decay,  that  nation  is  in  its  decrepitude- 
the  seeds  of  dissolution  are  already  sown,  and  its  ruin  may  be 
read  in  the  downfall  of  empires. 

A  government,  therefore,  that  authorizes  any  trade  or  institu¬ 
tion  tending  to  pollute  the  home-life  of  the  people,  and  to  weaken 
those  strong  attachments  which  ought 'ever  to  exist  anions  the 
members  of  a  family,  is  guilty  of  a  suicidal  policy,  a  policy  opposed 
to  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  the  nation.  It  is,  in  fact  a 
traitorous  government,  betraying,  for  the  sake  of  a  little  apparent 
gain  to  the  exchequer,  the  best  interests  of  the  country,  and 
exposing  the  land  of  our  fathers  to  future  bankruptcy,  demorali¬ 
zation,  and  ruin. 

Can  any  one  thing  be  named  that  tends  so  powerfully  to  destroy 
the  purity  of  our  home-life,  and  to  weaken  the  tender  attach¬ 
ments  of  nature,  as  this  Drinking  System?  Let  all  other  evil 
influences  at  work  in  our  land  be  put  together,  they  will  not 
form  an  aggregate  half  so  pernicious  and  destructive  in  this 
respect  as  the  Drinking  System.  Strong  drink  sets  husband 
against  wife,  and  wife  against  husband;  children  against  parents 
and  parents  against  children;  so  that  a  man’s  most  terrible  foes 
are  those  of  his  own  household.  The  happiness,  culture,  repose 
and  purity  of  home  vanish,  and  the  home-life  of  the  people 
becomes  a  scene  of  misery,  strife,  and  pollution.  There  are 
thousands  of  such  homes  in  our  land.  Our  eyes  have  seen  them 
and  our  ears  have  heard  their  sounds  of  strife— homes  blighted 
and  cursed  by  intemperance. 

It  is  not  the  poverty  of  the  home,  neither  is  it  the  affliction  of 
its  inmates,  that  is  to  be  so  much  deplored  as  that  which  adds 
pollution  to  poverty,  and  gives  affliction  its  bitterness— viz. 
Intemperance.  Ihis  is  the  foul  fiend  that  despoils  home  of  all 
that  can  make  it  beautiful.  Says  Dr.  W.  E.  Charming:— “  Intem¬ 
perance  is  to  be  pitied  and  abhorred  for  its  own  sake  much  more 
than  for  its  outward  consequences.  These  consequences  owe  their 
chief  bitterness  to  their  criminal  source.  We  speak  of  tho 
miseries  which  tho  drunkard  carries  into  his  family.  But  take 
away  his  own  brutality,  and  how  lightened  would  be  those 


24 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


miseries.  We  talk  of  his  wife  and  children  in  rags.  Let  the 
ra.,s  continue,  bur.  suppose  them  to  be  the  effects  of  an  innocent 
cause.  Suppose  the  drunkard  to  have  been  a  virtuous  husband, 
and  an  affectionate  father,  and  that  sickness,  not  vice,  has  brough 
his  family  thus  low.  Suppose  his  wife  and  children  bound  to 
him  by  a  strong  love,  which  a  life  of  labor  for  their  support  and 
of  unwearied  kindness  has  awakened;  suppose  them  to  know 
that  his  toils  for  their  welfare  had  broken  down  his  frame;  sup¬ 
pose  him  able  to  say,  ‘  We  are  poor  in  this  world’s  goods  but 
rich  in  affection  and  religious  trust.  I  am  going  from  you,  but  1 
leave  you  to  the  Father  of  the  fatherless,  and  to  the  widow  s  God  . 
Suppose  this,  and  how  changed  those  rags!  How  changed  the 
cold  naked  room!  The  heart’s  warmth  can  do  much  to  with¬ 
stand  the  winter’s  cold;  and  there  is  hope,  there  is  honor  m 
this  virtuous  indigence.  What  breaks  the  heart  of  the  drunk¬ 
ard's  wife?  It  is  not  that  ho  is  poor,  but  that  he  is  a  drunkard. 
Instead  of  that  bloated  face,  now  distorted  with  passion,  now 
robbed  of  every  gleam  of  intelligence,  if  the  wife  could  look  on  an 
affectionate  countenance,  which  had  for  years  been  the  interpre¬ 
ter  of  a  well  principled  mind  and  faithful  heart,  what  an  o\er- 
whclminc  load  would  be  lifted  from  her.  It  is  a  husband  whose 
touch  ^polluting,  whose  infirmities  are  the  witnesses  of  Ins 
cuilt,  who  has  blighted  all  her  hopes,  who  has  proved  false  to  the 
vow  which  made  her  his;  it  is  such  a  husband  who  makes  homo 
a  hell,  not  one  whom  toil  and  disease  have  cast  on  the  care  of 
wife  and  children.”  Still  more  sad,  however,  is  the  case  when  the 
intemperance  is  that  of  the  wife  and  mother,  or  when  both  hus¬ 
band  and  wife  alike  give  themselves  up  to  this  vice.  Then  are 
the  children  neglected,  brought  up  in  rags,  and  poverty,  and 
ignorance;  and  should  they  escape  the  perils  of  infancy,  which 
to  them  are  increased  ten-fold,  they  grow  up  to  follow  the 
vicious  career  of  their  parents,  and,  in  their  turn,  to  engender 
sorrow  and  strife.  Such  homes  are,  indeed,  nurseries  of  vice  ; 
tlie  unnatural  parents  driving  forth  their  sons  to  bog  and  stea  , 
or,  worse  still,  selling  at  a  tender  age  the  virtue  of  their  girls,  m 
order  to  secure  the  means  of  gratifying  an  uncontrollable  appetite. 

From  the  home,  pass  to  the  Nation,  and  trace  the  ravages  ot 

the  drinking  system  upon  the  National  Life. 

A  nation  is  the  union  of  many  homes,  the  people  of  wine  1 
speak  the  same  language,  possess  the  same  general  characteristics, 
and  have  many  interests  in  common— the  whole  being  united 


ITS  RAVAGES  UPON  THE  NATION. 


25 


under  one  head  or  government.  It  has  also  its  laws,  its  great 
national  institutions,  its  literature,  its  commercial  relations  with 
other  lands,  and  a  history  of  its  own,  pregnant  with  instruction. 

A  Nation,  as  an  individual,  should  have  noble  purposes  to 
accomplish,  and  a  destiny  to  fulfil.  This  includes  the  protection 
of  the  people,  the  development  of  their  resources,  and  through 
the  union  in  council  of  their  greatest  intellects,  the  blessings  of 
education,  and  of  all  the  loftier  forms  of  civilized  life.  A  Nation, 
in  fact,  ought  to  be  a  blending  and  union  of  all  the  noblest  traits 
that  adorn  our  species.  There  is  an  ideal  of  a  perfect  nation,  as 
well  as  of  a  perfect  individual,  and  the  world  is  struggling  to 
attain  it.  The  revolutions  and  changes  going  on  among  the 
nations  are  so  many  steps  in  this  direction,  and  all,  for  the  most 
part,  so  many  expressions  of  those  longings  for  that  perfection  of 
society,  of  which,  ever  and  anon,  we  have  inspiring  glimpses. 

Now,  it  is  the  prevailing  opinion— an  opinion  based  upon  stern, 
grim  facts,  educed  by  careful  inquiry,  and  confirmed  by  exten¬ 
sive  observation,  that  intemperance  is  the  great  curse  of  this 
country,  in  comparison  with  which  all  other  evils  combined  are 
as  nothing ;  so  that,  were  this  one  vice  eradicated,  we  should 
attain  to  a  state  of  unprecedented  prosperity  and  greatness.  It 
is  acknowledged,  even  by  our  Statesmen,  that  intemperance  is 
the  incubus  which  oppresses  the  national  life,  and  that  to  roll 
this  away  would  be  to  set  the  nation  free  in  a  glorious  path  of 
progress. 

Let  us  now  consider  more  in  detail  the  operations  of  the  drink¬ 
ing  system  : 

I*  'In  Ms  primary  effect ,  Drunkenness.  The  wild  scenes  of 
drunkenness  and  debauchery  visible  in  our  streets,  especially  on 
Saturday  and  Sunday  nights,  are  a  disgrace  to  us  as  a  nation, 
and  a  mockery  of  our  civilization.  Yet  these  sights  give  but  a 
very  feeble  glimpse  of  the  real  amount  of  intemperance.  There 
are  thousands  of  habitual  drunkards  in  our  midst,  who  are  never 
seen  reeling  and  brawling  in  our  streets,  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  occasional  drunkards  who  are  never  to  be  found  figuring  in 
our  Police  Courts.  The  number  of  persons  taken  into  custody 
for  being  “drunk  and  incapable/’  or  “drunk  and  disorderly/' 
gives  no  adequate  idea  of  the  real  facts,  since  a  very  sjnall 
proportion  of  drunkards  are  taken  into  custody.  The  simply 
drunken  are  rarely  noticed,  and  if  the  “  incapably”  drunk  has  a 
friend  with  him  to  help  him  along,  the  policeman  does  not  inter- 

3 


26 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

fere  ;  or  if  the  man  “  riotously  ”  dmnk  will  only  move  on,  after 
being  perhaps  repeatedly  threatened,  he  also  is  allowed  to  escape. 

It  is  only  when  they  are  “dead  drunk,”  and  have  no  friend  to 
look  after  them,  or,  when  being  “riotously  drunk,”  they  threaten 
to  assault  the  constable,  that  they  are  taken  into  custody..  Never¬ 
theless,  though  the  police  returns  are  exceedingly  defective,  they 
are  sufficiently  imposing  to  give  us  some  approximate  idea  ot  the 
vast  extent  of  drunkenness. 

During  the  six  years,  from  1858  to  1863,  inclusive,  there  were 
taken  up,  in  London  alone,  as  “drunk  and  disorderly/1  110,8-9; 
and  in  Liverpool,  45,917.  In  the  whole  country,  in  1861,  the 
number  of  persons  committed  for  drunkenness  was  b2,19b  *,  in 
1862,  94,908;  and  in  1863,  94,745.  During  the  three  years, 
1866-67-68,  in  thirty-four  English  towns,  by  no  means  including 
the  worst,  out  of  a  population  of  999,042,  there  were  proceeded 
against  for  drunkenness,  14,994  persons.  In  Birmingham,  with 
a  population  of  295,955,  the  number  of  “drunk  and  disorderly 
in  1868,  was  2,310,  or  one  in  every  128.  Of  these,  the  number 
fined  was  1,112,  and  the  number  committed,  658.  <  . 

The  number  of  drunkards  in  our  midst  is  truly  astonishing; 
every  village,  except  the  two  or  three  thousand  prohibitory 
villages,  has  its  confirmed  sots,  and  in  our  large  towns  we  may 
reckon  them  by  hundreds,  even  thousands,  while  the  occasional 
drunkards  are  almost  beyond  computation.  In  fact,  there  is 
scarcely  a  family  that  has  not  suffered  from  the  drunkenness  of 

some  of  its  members.  . 

It  has  been  computed  that  there  are  in  the  United  Kingdom 

about  500,000  drunkards ;  that  is,  one  drunkard  to  every  sixty 
persons;  or  one  to  every  twelve  adults,  male  and  female. .  Now 
we  cannot  wonder  at  this  when  we  consider  that  we  have  in  this 
country  hundreds  of  breweries  and  distilleries,  consuming  annu¬ 
ally  above  63,000,000  bushels  of  grain,  and  converting  it  into  above 
21,000,000  gallons  of  gin  and  whisky,  and  above  600,000,000 
o-allons  of  beer;  and  that  to  retail  all  this  out  to  the  people, 
together  with  above  8,000,000  gallons  of  foreign  spirits,  and 
15,000,000  gallons  of  wine,  we  have  established  in  our  midst 
150,000  public  houses  and  beer  shops,  including  2,000  refresh¬ 
ment  houses  selling  wine  and  brandy,  and  some  thousands 
of  groceries,  selling  intoxicating  liquors  of  all  kinds,  lrom 
Scotch  whisky  to  orange  wine  and  table  beer.  No  wonder, 
either,  that  this  evil  of  drunkenness  is  upon  the  increase, 


27 


ABOUNDING  INTEMPERANCE, 

especially  among  the  young.  From  the  report  on  intemperance 
of  the  Lower  House  of  Convocation,  of  the  Province  of  Canter¬ 
bury,  it  appears  that  many  children  of  tender  years  are  addicted 
to  this  vice,  as  the  following  extracts  will  show: 

No.  4. — “  Ten  or  twelve  years  old.  I  caught  a  boy  who 
works  at  the  paper-mill  staggering  about  the  fields  one  day;  ho 
was  drunk/’ 

No.  66. — “Lads  of  fourteen  years  of  age  may  be  seen,  alas! 
on  Saturday  nights,  after  receiving  their  fortnightly  pay  from 
the  works,  in  a  state  of  intoxication.” 

We  have  ourselves  known  many  cases  of  confirmed  drunken¬ 
ness  at  the  tender  age  of  seventeen. 

This  vice,  owing  to  Mr.  Gladstone’s  measures,  is  also  rapidly 
extending  among  the  women,  and  thus  our  domestic  life  is  men¬ 
aced  with  great  danger. 

It  is  also  upon  the  increase  among  the  men.  The  consump¬ 
tion  of  intoxicating  liquor  has  largely  increased,  and  therefore 
drunkenness. 

Archbishop  Manning,  in  his  speech  at  the  Alliance  Annual 
Meeting,  held  in  the  Free  Trade  Ilall,  Manchester,  October  13th, 
1868,  made  this  statement  : 

“I  affirm  that  drunkenness  is  on  the  increase,  and  I  affirm  it  without 
hesitation.  When  examined,  the  other  day,  before  the  Committee  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  I  was  told  that  high  authorities — the  public 
magistrates  and  others— had  given  counter  evidence ;  I  still  persisted  in 
that  belief.  The  report  of  that  Committee  is  now  before  us.  We  find 
there  a  large  number  of  citations  from  the  evidence  of  witnesses  to  show 
that  drunkenness  is  not  on  the  increase.  I  find  only  three  who  det'ared 
the  conviction  it  was  on  the  increase.  Of  those  three,  two  of  them  will 
outweigh,  in  your  judgment,  a  host  of  others— Captain  Palin,  of  Man¬ 
chester,  and  Major  Gieig,  of  Liverpool.  I  had  the  happiness,  though 
I  can  add  no  weight,  of  being  the  third.  Now,  the  ground  on  which 
the  answer  was  made  that  police  magistrates  were  the  best  and  surest 
witnesses,  was  this — that  the  statistics  showed  that  the  number  of  com¬ 
mittals  was  either  decreasing,  or  not.  To  this  I  answered,  that  which  all 
of  you  are  ready  to  answer,  and  as  the  committee  of  1854  declared,  that  no 
official  statistics  we  possess  give  sufficient  information  as  to  the  extent  of 
it.  There  are  classes  of  drunkards  that  never  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
police  at  all.  The  only  class  of  whom  the  police  take  cognizance  are  those 
that  are  dangerously  drunk,  or  helplessly  drunk. 

“Within  the  last  two  years,  or  eighteen  months,  offences  have  come  to 
my  knowledge  committed  by  persons  neither  dangerously  nor  helplessly 
drunk.  There  was  a  miserable  woman  who  returned  home  drunk,  and 


2g  THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

is  no  evidence  at  all.  compared  will;  that  of  pb>—  »* 
clergymen,  who  meet  with  such  cases  every  day. 

Police  Returns,  defective  ns  they  notoriously  are,  however 
sufficiently  show  that  drunkenness  ts  increasing  lake,  for 
instance,  the  Manchester  Police  Returns,  printed  under  direction 

nf  the  Watch  Committee.  .  ,  . 

*  The  returns  for  the  ten  years  from  I860  to  1869  inclusive  ar 
as  follows : 


Year. 

I860  .  9.877  1,309  .  L<-° 

.  ' _  i  .  o  nnfi 


Total  proceeded 
against. 


Indictable 

Offences. 


Assaults. 


2,006 


Drunkenness. 

..  2,329 

...  2,284 

...  3,373 

...  3,206 
3,587 


1861  .  19,194  .  hm 

1862  .  12.063  .  1,6«8  .  2,1< 

1- . %% :::  S  :::  IS 

isos  ::::  . w« . . . 

^ . 9o’g37 1&  z.  im . 

1«69 ::::::  z  w . *** . 

....  lhus  appears  "  says  the  Chief  Constable,  "that  the  persons  proceeded 

J*K  'year  are  nearly  three  times  the  number  they  were  ten 
against  dui m  t  a  considerable  increase,  drunken- 

years  ago.  In  these  ottences  ng  arrested  lor  this 

a  that  65  per  cent,  of  the  persons  arrested  were  drunk  when 

taken  into  custody.  The  increased  demands  upon  the  time  of  the  police, 
Itch  this  offence  occasions,  materiallv  interrupts  that  constant  a  ten 
tion  to  their  duties  which  is  so  necessary  for  the  eileetual  protection  of 

property.” 

The  Po1:ce  Returns  for  England  and  Wales,  for  t  >e  fi\i  >ears 
ending  September  29th,  ISOS,  show  a  very  large  per  centage  ot 


INFLICTING  DISEASE  AND  DEATH.  29 

the  total  Summary  Charges,  under  the  heading— drunk  and 
disorderly  : 


1863- 4  .  100,067  .  23  per  cent. 

1864- 5  105,810  23  “ 

1865- 6  104,368  22  “ 

18.66-7  100,357  21  “ 

1867-8  111,465  23  “ 


In  1867-8,  we  find  a  much  larger  number  of  drunk  and  dis¬ 
orderly  cases  than  in  the  preceding  year. 

In  1867-3,  the  number  of  cases  proceeded  against  summarily,  were 
490,752,  and  the  convictions  were  347,458;  of  males  288,177,  of  females 
59,341.  The  cases  proceeded  against  were  more  by  16,087  than  thoso 
of  1866-7;  the  convictions  were  12,099  more,  and  the  proportion  of 
female  cases  was  greater.  The  convictions  were  followed  by  215,174 
fines,  and  87,364  terms  of  imprisonment  varying  from  fourteen  davs  to 
above  six  months.  The  cases  of  assault  were  92.978,  of  which  2,690 
were  “aggravated  assaults  on  women  and  children.”  The  cases  of 
“drunk  and  disorderly”  were  111,465,  making,  with  the  assaults,  a 
total  oi  204,443,  or  42  per  cent,  of  the  whole  number,  in  almost  the  whole 
of  which  strong  drink  was  the  instigating  cause  of  the  offence. 

• 

There  are  certain  seasons,  as  at  an  election,  at  Christmas,  and 
the  New- Year,  when  intemperance  marshals  her  forces,  and  then 
wild  anarchy  and  disgusting  debauchery  spread  over  the  land. 
The  Right  lion.  John  Bright,  M.P.,  when  addressing  his  consti¬ 
tuents  at  Birmingham,  at  his  reelection  on  the  21st  December 
1869,  said: — ‘‘We  have  had  tumult  in  scores  of  boroughs. 
Those  twin  demons,  discord  and  drink,  have  run  riot  in  the 
streets  of  many  of  our  towns.  And  amongst  the  poorer  classes  of 
voters,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  has  been  bribery  to 
a  great  extent.  There  has  been  treating  to  a  still  greater  extent. 
...  The  whole  picture,  as  I  surveyed  it  from  day  to  day  in  tho 
newspaper  reports,  was  one  really  frightful  and  horrible.  I  think 
it  was  humiliating  to  us  to  a  very  great  degree,  and  that  every 
one  ol  us  should  ask  himself  whether  it  is  possible  to  find  a 
remedy  ?”  The  remedy  proposed  by  the  Right  Honorable 
gentleman  was  to  close  the  public-houses  during  an  election. 

II. — As  producing  disease  and  premature  death. 

As  a  class,  drunkards  are  short  lived.  “No  Life  Insurance 
Office  will  accept  an  insurance  on  an  individual  whose  habits  are 
known  to  be  intemperate;  and  if  it  be  discovered,  after  liis  death, 


30 


THE' GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


that  he  has  been  accustomed  to  the  excessive  use  of  alcoholic 
liquors,  contrary  to  his  statement  in  his  proposal  for  insurance, 
the  policy  is  declared  void.  And  it  is,  doubtless,  owing  in  part 
to  the  superior  sobriety  of  the  great  bulk  of  insurers  over  that 
of  the  average  of  the  population,  that  a  lower  rate  of  morta  ity 
presents  itself  amongst  them,  than  that  which  might  be  expected 
according  to  the  calculations  founded  on  the  entire  mortality  ot 
the  country— to  the  great  profit  of  the  office.  Thus  at  the  age 
of  forty  years,  the  annual  rate  of  mortality  among  the  whole 
population  of  England  is  about  13  per  4000;  whilst  among  the 
lives  insured  in  Life  Offices,  it  is  about  11  per  1000;  and  in 
those,  insured  in  Friendly  Societies,  it  is  about  10  per  • 

— Dr.  Carpenter;  Physiology  of  7 empe>ance,  p.  79. 

“It  has  been  ascertained  that  in  men  peculiarly  exposed  to 
the  tempt  .tion  of  drinking,  the  mortality  before  thirty-five 
years  of  age  is  twice  as  great  as  in  men  following  similar  occu¬ 
pations,  but  less  liable  to  fall  into  this  fatal  habit.  It  has  a. so 
been  shown  that  the  rate  of  mortality  among  persons  addicted 
to  intemperance  is  more  than  three  times  as  great  as  among  the 
population  at  large.  At  the  earlier  periods  of  life  the  dispropor¬ 
tion  is  still  greater,  being  five  times  as  great  between  twenty  and 
thirty  years  of  age,  and  four  times  as  great  between  thirty  and 
fifty.  The  annual  destruction  of  life  among  persons  of  decided  y 
intemperate  habits  has  been  estimated  at.  upwards  of  **000  ma  es 
and  nearly  700  females,  in  a  population  of  nearly  54,000  inn .  es, 
and  upwards  of  1 1 .000  females  addicted  to  intemperance.  [  1  hat 
is,  of  males  the  death-rate  is  55  per  1000  per  annum  and  of  . 
females  G3  per  1000  per  annum,  while  the  general  death-nate  ot 
the  whole  country  and  at  all  ages,  is  only  23  per  1000.]  I  he 
greater  number  of  these  deaths  are  due  to  delirium  tremens  an 
diseases  of  the  brain,  and  to  dropsical  affections  supervening  on 
diseases  of  the  liver  and  kidneys.”-//^*  Physician  s  )  ade 

Mecum,  G lli  ed.,  1858,  by  W.  A.  Gay,  31. D. 

“An  intemperate  person  of  twenty  years  of  age,  has  a  proba¬ 
bility  of  life  extending  to  15.6  years;  one  of  thirty  years  of  age, 
to  13.8  vears;  and  one  of  forty  years,  to  1 1.6  years  ;  win  e  a 
person  of  the  general  population  of  the  country  would  have  a 
like  probability  of  living  44.2,  36.5,  and  28.8  yeais  rcspecta\e  y. 
Some  curious  results  were  shown  in  the  influence  of  the  differen 
kinds  of  drinks  on  the  duration  of  life:  beer-drinkers  averaging 
21.7  years;  spirit  drinkers  16.7  years ;  and  those  who  drink  both 


HEAVY  MORTALITY  OF  DRINKERS  AND  VENDORS.  31 


beer  and  spirits  indiscriminately  16.1  years.  These  results, 
however,  were  not  more  curious  than  those  connected  with  the 
different  classes  of  persons.  The  average  duration  of  life,  after 
the  commencement  of  intemperate  habits,  among  mechanics  and 
laboring  men,  was  18  years;  among  traders,  dealers,  and  me¬ 
chanics,  17  years ;  among  professional  men  and  gentlemen, 
15  years;  and  among  females,  14  years  only.” — Carpenter's 
Physiology  of  Temperance ,  p.  76. 

It  appears  then,  that  drinkers  shorten  their  lives  just  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  their  means  for  gratifying  their  inordinate  passion. 
Professional  men,  gentlemen,  and  females,  on  account  of  their 
larger  means,  are  able  to  obtain  more  drink  than  the  mechanic 
or  laboring  man,  and  consequently  they  die  earlier.  The  above 
calculations  are  based  upon  those  of  the  eminent  actuary, 
Mr.  Neison. 

Those  engaged  in  the  Traffic  being  very  much  addicted  to 
drink  are,  as  a  class,  short-lived.  In  the  supplement  to  the 
Twenty-fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Registrar-General,  there  is  a 
table  of  the  mortality  of  persons  engaged  in  different  occupations. 

The  following  extracts  from  that  table  give  the  annual  mor¬ 
tality  per  cent,  of  males  at  different  ages  : 

Ages.  Ages.  Ages.  Ages. 

25  to  35  35  to  45  45  to  55  55  to  65 

Farmers  and  Graziers,  .  .  ‘877  ...  1'244  ...  2-307  ...  5-730 

Grocers, . ‘923  ...  1-280  ...  2-053  ...  4-334 

Carpenters, . *980  ...  P542  ...  2  803  ...  6*951 

Shoemakers, .  1*113  ...  1*577  ...  3-024  ...  6-911 

Laborers, . *997  ...  1-398  ...  2-617  ...  5-949 

Inn  and  Hotel  Keepers,  Pub-  ] 

licans,  Beer-sellers,  Wine  t  P912  ...  2-793  ...  4  105  ...  7'446 
and  Spirit  Merchants,  J 

All  England, .  1*228  !..  1*767  ...  3-110  ...  6-225 

Thus  the  mortality  of  persons  in  the  liquor  traffic,  from 
twenty-five  years  of  age  to  forty-five,  is  twice  as  great  as  it  is 
with  farmers  or  graziers,  and  much  more  at  all  ages  than  it  is 
'  with  farmers,  carpenters,  shoemakers,  laborers,  and  the  males  of 
all  England.  The  high  rate  of  mortality  of  brewers’  draymen, 
pot-boys,  and  publicans  is  proverbial.  The  death-rate  per  1000, 
of  persons  between  the  age  of  thirty  and  forty,  engaged  in  dif¬ 
ferent  occupations,  is  as  follows  : 

Tradesmen,  16  per  1000  ;  footmen,  18  ;  laborers,  18 ;  licensed 


32 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


victuallers,  20  ;  pot-boys,  29  ;  draymen,  39.— Journal  of  Statis¬ 
tical  Society ,  vol.  iv.,  p.  4.  . , 

Drunkards  are  also  far  more  liable  to  accidents  than  ot  . 
people.  In  fact,  a  large  proportion  of  severe  accident  cases  in 
our  hospitals  have  their  origin  here.  Very  frequently  the  lives 
of  other  people  are  not  merely  jeopardized,  but  actually  sacrificed 
through  the  carelessness  and  recklessness  of  drunkards.  A  co  - 
lision  takes  place  upon  a  railway,  and  many  passengers  are 
injured  and  killed  ;  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  driver  or  some- 
of  the  officials,  caused  by  the  glass  of  ale  blunting  their  percep 
tive  powers,  and  rendering  them  reckless,  is  discovered  to  be  the 
cause.  A  ship  founders  at  sea,  and  nearly  all  hands  perish  j  the 
drunkenness  of  the  captain  and  seamen  has  occasioned  the 
sad  catastrophe.  The  drunkard’s  wife  and  children  are  slowly 
murdered  by  continued  neglect  and  want,  till  at  last  they  too 
swell  the  sad  catalogue  of  the  slain  through  drink. 

If  a  drunkard’s  life  is  only  worth  ten  years,  then  nearly  50,000 
persons  must  perish  prematurely  every  year,  from  intemperance. 

I  am  however,  convinced  for  myself  that  this  calculation  is 
below  the  mark ;  and  that,  if  we  compute  the  deaths  occasioned 
indirectly  by  intemperance,  and  by  drinking  short  of  what  is 
called  drunkenness,  the  number  will  approach  much  nearer 

70,000  per  annum.  .  .  ,  .  ,  ' 

If  we  put  down  the  number  of  this  class  of  drinkers,  not 

drunkards,  at  4,000,000,  and  compute  the  death-rate  among 
them  in  excess  of  those  who  don't  drink  at  only  eight  per  , 
per  annum,  this  will  give  us  32,000  deaths  justly  chargeable 

upon  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor.  . 

In  our  large  towns  more  than  one-half  of  the  infant  population 
die  before  the  end  of  the  fifth  year.  Now  we  can  prove  that  the 
lives  of  thousands  of  these  little  ones  are  cruelly  sacrificed 
through  the  intemperate  habits  of  their  parents.  During  the 
year  fsG5,  145  inquests  was  held  in  Liverpool  alone,  on  infants 
overlaid  or  smothered  by  their  mothers;  these  cases  chiefly 
occurred  on  Saturday  and  Sunday  nights  ;  thus  proving  that 
intemperance  was  the  cause.  Then  too,  thousands  of  infants  * 
perish  annually  from  cruel  neglect  and  deficient  nourishment, 
all  arising  from  the  intemperance  of  mothers. 

The  annual  number  of  births  in  the  United  Kingdom  is  about 
700  000.  Now  of  this  number  one-fourth,  or  175,000,  will  die  in 
the  course  of  the  first  year.  Vre  may,  with  safety,  put  down  10 


A  coroner’s  testimony. 


90 

oo 


per  cent,  of  the  whole,  f.  e.  17,500,  as  occasioned  by  neglect. 
ow  ing  to  the  drunken  habits  of  parents.  The  Registrar  General 
in  orms  us  that  200,000  persons  perish  annually  in  the  United 
Kingdom  from  avoidable  disease.  IIow  many  of  these  must  have 
their  origin  in  intemperance,  or  be  aggravated  by  it? 

ut  we  have  yet  to  compute  the  deaths  resulting  from  the 

eg  igence  of  those  occupying  responsible  situations.  Patients, 

ho  might  otherwise  have  recovered,  sacrificed  through  the 

unkenness  of  doctors;  the  excessive  rate  of  mortality  occurring 

ncertam  diseases  from  the  alcoholic  treatment;  deaths  by  sea 

y  f  ^ie  drunkenness  of  ship’s  officers  and  crews, 

and  of  railway  officials.  ’ 

mmhn/Jb  for  Middlesex:  “I  have  seen  so 

Teetot  f  h  n-‘ '  •  6CtS  °f  sin  that  1  am  inclined  to  become  a 

annuanvumn1"  18  b*‘  friend  1  have;  !t  causes  me  to  '>avo 

annually  1,00(1  more  inquests  than  I  otherwise  should  hold;  and 

have  reason  to  believe  that  from  10,000  to  15,000  persons  die  in 

inonr,f  0p  n1S,?,?Ually  fr0m  ,he  eff,!Cts  of  g‘n!  upon  Whom  no 
2n\  Vscv0  he W',  The  m1uests  f°r  the  year  ending  September 
foos  24'774i  on  maIes-  17,476;  on  females, 

.'r  .  “  "2°  ,CaSeS’  thirteen  in  the  thousand,  the  verdict  of 

were  of8 T  '"r  rln  was  returned.  Among  the  other  verdicts 
nr  7,’  0  murder,  235  of  manslaughter,  1,546  of  suicide,  11,033 

.  cidental  death,  2,824  of  found  dead,  while  S.094  are  ascribed 

to  causes  unnamed.  In  1866-7  the  inquests  were  24,648,  at  a 

cost  (O  the  nation  of  £76,520  2s.  Id.  Fully  three  fourths  of  the 

above  may  be  charged  upon  the  drinking  system  of  the  nation. 

d  then,  too,  the  amount  and  variety  of  disease  produced  by 

tins  drinking  system  are  most  horrible  to  contemplate.  Indeed, 

,.  ,  aai?  lava‘lny  blea,  save  those  who  have  paid  special  atten- 

,i  °  ,sa  *leet,  of  the  vast  amount  of  disease  occasioned  by 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor. 

.  ®r’.  TrotterJ  numerates  twenty-eight  diseases  arising  from 
sions  V**  '""I  *.lnkS’  V‘z:  “^Pop'exy,  epilepsy,  hysterics,  convul- 
benni’-;  drea™8’  Sastritis>  enteritis,  ophthalmia,  carbuncle, 
l,?tf  I  S''U  ’•  Scmr,'ous  °f  the  bowels,  fatal  obstruction  of  the 

lock  f  8’  JaU|"  lndlSC8t,0ni  dropsy,  tabes,  syncope,  diabetes, 
ok  jaw,  palsy,  ulcers,  madness,  idiocy,  melancholy,  impotency, 
p  lature  old  age,  and  diseases  of  infants  during  suckling. 

Hr.  Carpenter  thus  enumerates  the  diseases  induced  by  alco- 
nolle  excess:  J 


34 


TIIE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


1  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System.  —  Delirium  ebriosum 
(drunken  madness),  delirium  tremens,  insanity,  omomama, 
mental  debility  in  offspring  inflammatory  diseases  of  the  brain, 
apoplexy,  paralysis,  epilepsy,-  criminal  conduct  [including  — 
suicidal  mania,  homicidal  mania,  pyroman ia  (an  uncontrollable 
desire  to  commit  acts  of  incendiarism),  kleptomania  (an  uncon 
troll  able  desire  to  steal),  and  erotomania  (an  irrepressible  desire 

to  gratify  the  sexual  passion).]  . 

2.  Diseases  of  the  Alimentary  Can al.— Irritation  and  inflam¬ 
mation  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach,  inflammatory 
gastric  dyspepsia,  disorders  of  intestinal  mucous  membrane.  . 

3.  Diseases  of  the  Liver.— Congestion,  acute  and  chronic 
inflammation,  atrophy,  (wasting),  hypertrophy  (enlargement), 
hob  nailed  liver. 

4.  Diseases  of  the  Kidneys—  Albuminurea,  or  Bright  s  Disease. 

5.  Diseases  of  the  Stein.- Carbuncle,  boils,  erysipelas,  acne, 

psora,  ebriosum  (Drunkard’s  Itch.) 

6.  General  Disorders  of  Nutrition.- Tendency  to  the  deposi¬ 
tion  of  fat,  diminished  power  of  sustaining  injuries,  liability  to 
epidemic  diseases,  gout  and  rheumatism,  diseases  of  heart  and 


arteries 

Here’  then,  we  have  a  catalogue  of  the  most  terrible  diseases 
that  can  afflict  mankind,  all  of  them  induced  by  the  use  of  a  co- 
holic  liquors,  and  some  of  them  never  occurring  except  in  those 

who  drink.  ,  ...... 

Two  of  the  above-named  diseases  call  for  special  attention, 

both  on  account  of  the  sufferings  they  inflict,  and  the  frequency 
of  their  occurrence,  viz:  Insanity  and  Delirium  lremens. 

We  have  in  our  public  asylums  about  50,000  insane  and  idiotic 
persons:  and  according  to  Lord  Shaftesbury,  six-tenths  are  pro¬ 
duced  by  drink.  He  says -.-“Here  I  speak  of  my  own  know¬ 
ledge  and  experience,  for  having  acted  as  Commissioner  o 
Lunacy  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  as  Chairman  of  the  Com¬ 
mission  during  sixteen  years,  and  having  had  therefore  t  e 
whole  of  the  business  under  my  personal  observation  and  care ; 
having  made  inquiries  into  the  matter,  and  having  fortified  them 
by  inquiries  in  America,  which  have  confirmed  the  inquiries 
made  in  this  country-the  result  is,  that  fully  six  tenths  of  all 
the  cases  of  insanity  to  be  found  in  these  realms  and  in  America 
arise  from  no  other  cause  than  from  habits  of  intemperance  in 
which  the  people  have  indulged.” 


INSANITY  AND  DELIRIUM  TREMENS.  35 

The  number  of  deranged  people  in  a  country  corresponds  very 
closely  with  the  amount  of  strong  drink  they  consume.  Till  the 
introduction  of  fire-water  among  the  American  Indians,  insanity 
v  as  unknown.  In  Cairo,  comparatively  teetotal,  there  is  one  in¬ 
sane  person  to  every  30,714  of  the  inhabitants.  In  Spain,  com¬ 
paratively  sober,  the  consumption  of  alcohol  being  only  one 
gallon  per  head  per  annum,  there  is  one  insane  person  in  every 
<,1S1.  In  Normandy,  consuming  two  gallons  of  alcohol  per 
head  per  annum,  one  in  every  700.  In  Norway,  consuming  two 
gallons,  one  in  every  551.  In  England,  consuming  two  and  a  half 
gallons,  the  proportion  is  one  in  every  430  of  the  inhabitants.* 
ihe  amount  of  idiotcy  transmitted  from  drunken  parents  to 
their  offspring  is  truly  deplorable.  Dr.  Howe,  in  his  celebrated 
Deport  on  Idiotcy,  states  that  out  of  300  idiots  whose  history 
he  could  learn,  145  had  free,  habitual  drinkers  for  parents.  A 
■Viennese  physician,  Dr.  Bernacki,  now  of  New  York,  told  the 
w liter  that  he  had  in  youth  a  friend,  a  doctor  to  one  of  the 
Austrian  regiments,  who  possessed  the  finest  intellectual  endow¬ 
ments  and  moral  character  at  the  time  of  his  marriage.  His  first 
son  was  a  noble,  healthy  fellow.  But  the  appetite  for  drink  had 
been  engendered,  and  the  father  went  from  bad  to  worse.  He 
had  five  children,  but  of  these  one  was  imbecile,  and  all  the 
rest  absolutely  idiotic.^ —  See  Dr.  Lees'  Prize  Essaij  on  ihe 
Liquor  Traffic,  p.  199. 

Of  the  terrible  disease,  delirium  tremens ,  there  died  in  the  - 
three  years,  1858-59-60,  1,426  persons.  In  1867,  there  died  369 
from  the  same  cause.  During  the  four  years,  1864-65-66-67,  the 
deaths  from  alcoholism,  inclusive  of  delirium  tremens,  are  put 
down  at  3,784.  The  proportional  number  of  deaths  from  alco¬ 
holism,  in  each  of  the  years,  1858-67  to  1,000,000  of  population, 
was  37,  46,  39,  33,  35,  41,  52,  50,  44,  and  35  respectively.  In 

these  ten  years,  the  deaths  registered  amounted  to  8,370 _ viz  : 

from  intemperance,  3,527 ;  and  from  delirium  tremens ,  4,843. 

“  Drink  has  the  characteristic  of  predisposing  to  attacks  of  dis¬ 
ease,  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  winged  pestilence.  Let  an 
epidemic  appear  in  our  midst,  drunkards  are  its  earliest  victims, 
and  its  ravages  are  most  desolating  in  those  districts  where  drink¬ 
ing  prevails.  Dr.  Anderson,  of  Glasgow,  states  as  the  results  of 


*  In  Scotland,  in  lSG7,it  was  one  in  every 480;  in  Ireland  one  in  630.  Pauper 
lunatics  in  Asylums,  overlooked  by  Commissioners,  now  number  43  000  Of 
all  classes  we  have  50,000,  including  26,717  females.— Ed.  ’ 


36 


the  great  national  curse. 

liis  experience  in  the  treatment  of  225  patients  in  the  epidemic 

of  1848-9: _ ‘I  have  found  the  use  of  the  alcoholic  drinks  to  he 

the  most  powerful  predisposing  cause  ot  malignant  cholera  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.  So  strong  is  my  opinion  on  this  point, 
that  were  I  one  of  the  authorities,  and  had  the  power,  I  would 
placard  every  spirit  shop  in  town  with  large  bills,  containing  the 
words,  cholera  sold  HERE.’  The  mortality  of  those  who  weie 
represented  to  him  as  having  been  previously  of  temperate 
habits,  averaged  19.2  per  cent.*,  whilst  among  the  habitually 
intemperate  it  rose  to  the  enormous  proportion  of  91.2  per  cent. 
One  of  the  most  respectable  and  extensive  spirit  dealers  in  High 
Street,  Glasgow,  is  stated  to  have  said  that  ‘  the  cholera  has  cut 
off  at  least  one-half  of  my  customers.’  During  the  epidemic  of 
1832,  it  was  noticed  in  Montreal,  where  12  000  cases  occurred, 
that  ‘not  a  drunkard  who  was  attacked  has  recovered,  and 
almost  all  the  other  victims  were  moderate  drinkers.’  In  War¬ 
saw  it  was  found  that  90  per  cent,  of  those  who  died  of  the 
cholera  had  been  in  the  habit  of  drinking  ardent  spirits  to 
excess ;  and  at  Tiflis,  in  Russia,  a  town  of  20,000  inhabitants, 
every  drunkard  is  said  to  have  been  carried  off  by  the  disease.” 
— See  Dr.  Lees's  Prize  Essay. 

Evidence  to  the  same  effect  is  furnished  by  the  marked 
increase  in  the  number  of  cholera  cases  which  have  occurred, 
when  occasions  or  seasons  of  festivity  have  induced  unusual 
excesses  during  its  prevalence.  “  Thus  at  Glasgow  in  1832,  the 
jubilee  held  to  celebrate  the  passing  of  the  reform  bill  occasioned 
a  new  and  very  fatal  outbreak  of  the  disease  which  was  previously 
almost  extinct-,  and  at  Gateshead,  the  week  following  Christmas- 
day  was  signalized  by  a  most  terrible  fatality,  which  was  obvi¬ 
ously  attributable  to  the  drunkenness  that  prevailed  in  the  town, 
one  of  the  worst  streets  of  which  was  said  to  be  swept  of  con¬ 
firmed  drunkards,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  with  very  few  ex¬ 
ceptions.  The  influence  of  alcoholic  excesses  was  scarcely  less 
strongly  marked  in  Glasgow,  during  the  second  epidemic  -,  a  great 
increase  in  mortality  from  cholera  taking  place  during  and  after 
the  New  Year  festivities.”—  Carpenter,  Phys.  of  Temperance. 

Says  Robert  Martin,  M.D.,  Warrington:  “In  1801-2  there  was 
an  enormous  increase  of  places  for  the  sale  of  liquor  in  Liver¬ 
pool,  and  a  corresponding  increase  in  drunkenness.  At  the  same 
time,  trade  was  very  bad,  so' that  there  was  a  fearful  amount  of 
destitution.  Typhus  burst  forth,  and  for  four  years  raged  as  an 


PRODUCING  CRIME. 


37 

epidemic.  In  1866,  the  magistrates,  seeing  the  terrible  blunder 
which  had  been  made,  reversed  their  policy,  put  an  end  to  the 
experiment  which  they  prepared  the  public  for  in  1861,  and  put 
in  force  in  1862  ;  from  the  greatest  laxity  they  swung  round  to  the 
most  rigid  control.  The  result  was  that  the  death-rate,  which 
had  been  going  up  year  after  year,  was  suddenly  arrested. 
Intemperance  was  diminished  and  disease  and  death  diminished 
also.  Liverpool  lost,  or  rather  escaped  from,  the  terrible  pre¬ 
eminence  which  for  years  it  had  maintained  on  the  Begistrar- 
General  s  black  list.”  An  outbreak  of  cholera  occurred  in  Liver¬ 
pool  in  1866.  The  first  victim  was  an  Irishwoman;  her  death 
took  place  on  Sunday  night,  July  1st,  and  the  body  was  “waked” 
amidst  a  scene  of  shocking  drunkenness  until  Tuesday.  Dr. 
Iiench,  the  medical  officer  of  health,  visited  the  scene  on  the 
Monday,  and  found  the  corpse  surrounded  by  persons  who  were 
indulging m  “drunken  and  profane  ribaldry.”  He  says,  “When 
I  again  visited  on  Tuesday  morning,  to  try  either  by  threats  or 
persuasions  to  hasten  the  funeral,  I  found  the  whole  place  reek¬ 
ing  with  tobacco  smoke,  and  with  the  loathsome  and  disgusting 
emanations  of  drunken  and  unwashed  bacchanals.  The  three 
houses  (in  the  court)  were  crammed  with  men,  women,  and 
children,  while  drunken  women  squatted  thickly  on  the  flags 
before  the  open  door  of  the  crowded  room  where  the  corpse  lay. 

.  .  .  Before  the  period  of  a  week  had  passed,  John  Boyle,  the 
husband  of  the  woman,  was  also  amongst  the  dead,  and  before 
the  end  of  July  forty-eight  persons  had  died  from  cholera  within 
a  radius  of  150  yards  from  the  court ,  which  had  been  the 
scene  of  the  ill-timed  revelry.  The  commencement  of  the  epi¬ 
demic  dates  from  the  period  and  place  of  Mrs.  Boyle’s  death.” 

1°  the  extent  of  Crime  produced  by  the  Drinking  system. 

.  A  crime  is  an  offence  against  society  or  a  violation  of  those 
just  and  beneficent  laws  enacted  for  its  regulation  and  benefit. 

The  number  of  habitual  criminals  in  the  United  Kingdom 
has  been  computed  at  140,000,  or  one  in  every  214  of  the  popu¬ 
lation  ;  besides  an  innumerable  array  of  occasional  criminals, 
costing  the  nation  to  maintain  and  look  after,  about  £6,000  000 
per  annum. 

Kow,  it  can  be  proven  from  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all 
having  to  deal  with  our  criminal  class,  that  from  three-fourths 
to  eight-ninths  of  their  number  are  the  product  of  drinking. 

It  is  a  very  rare  thing,  indeed,  to  see  a  teetotaler  figuring  as  a 


og  the  great  national  curse. 

criminal  in  a  police  court,  or  lansnisl.ing  in  a  jaU.  Mr.  Sun- 

mons,  governor  of  tl.e  Canterbury  prison,  thus  tvntes. 

.■The  number  of  prisoners  who  have  b'™ '“"f  ,t“  I™ 

with  which  I  have  been  connected  during  the  last  th 

22  Odd.  Among  them  I  have  come  m  contact  w.th  mm. 

s&r?s. 

*■»  wf&srs  r  zte&r*  — 

IfZ  ,Vtf“ 

l^OCO  prisoners  out  of  die  1,500  into  whose  antecedents  I  have  carefully 
inquired  Of  the  1 ,000,  the  number  of  females  is  2„6 an  of  male 

their  husbands.  Of  the  704  males 48C t  admitted  that  ‘^foamt ‘a 

ards.  and  many  o  f  are  "drunkards’  How  many  of  the 

IZr  355  nmTbe  in  the  same  condition,  I  could  not  discover,  for  many 
prisoners,  like  the  majority  outside,  have  very  strange,. ^eas  as  to  what 
constitutes  drunkenness  they  think  t  W  -  not  drunk. uds  *  *£ 

are  constantly  or  very  frequently  drunk  I 

is  corrected  amongst  all  classes  of  the  community  the  betiei  u 
I  n  be  for  our  country  What  would  be  the  state  of  society  it  all 
Other  vices  and  crimes  were  looked  upon  with  as  much  indifference  as  is 
drunkenness— the  parent  of  so  many  of  the  other  crimes. 

The  amount  of  crime  is  very  closely  regulated  by  the  quantity 
of  intoxicating  liquor  consumed.  Diminished  consumption  show- 
in"  a  decrease  in  crime  ;  increased  consumption  an  increase. 

During  the  seven  years  between  1812  and  18h  ,  hotline  us'^  ' 
the  annual  consumption  of  British  spirits  in  hng.and  and 
Wales  was  5,000,000  gallons,  anti  the  annual  average  number  ot 
prisoners  committed  for  trial  was  11,305.  Durmg  the  seven 
years  between  1826  and  1S32,  the  annual  average  consumption 
had  risen  to  nearly  9,000,000-  gallons,  and  the  annual  average 
commitments  to  21,796,  both  items  almost  double :  while  from 
1812  to  1832,  the  population  had  increased  only  about  one-thn  . 
The  amount  of  crime  then  is  not  so  much  measured  by  the 
increase  of  population,  as  by  the  increase  in  the  consumption 

of  intoxicating  liquor. 

During  the  four  years  succeeding  1820,  the  consumption  o 


INCREASED  FACILITIES  SHOW  INCREASE  OF  CRIME.  39 


spirits  in  England  and  Wales  amounted  to  27,000,000  gallons, 
the  number  of  licenses  granted  was  351,647,  and  the  number  of 
criminals  comm.tted  for  trial  was  01,200.  In  the  four  years 
ending  1828,  the  consumption  had  increased  to  42,000,000 
gallons,  the  number  of  licenses  granted  being  374,794,  and  the 
number  of  committals  rose  to  78,345.  In  the  next  four  years 
•  ending  1832,  the  amount  of  spirits  consumed  was  48,000,000,  the 
number  of  licenses  468,438,  when ‘the  number  of  commitments 
increased  to  91,366.  / 

Thus  during  the  eight  years  from  1824  to  1832,  the  committals 
had  increased  30,000,  or  50  per  cent.,  and  the  consumption  of 
spirits  increasing  in  the  same  time  77  per  cent.,  with  a  very 
decided  increase  also  in  the  consumption  of  beer,  while  during 
the  three  periods,  the  licenses  had  increased  from  351,647  to 
468,438,  being  an  increase  of  116,794. 

“In  Scotland,  in  1823,  the  whole  consumption  of  intoxicating 
liquors  amounted  to  2,300,000  gallons;  in  1837  to  6,776,715 
gallons.  In  the  meantime  crime  increased  400  per  cent.,  fever 
1,600  per  cent.,  death  300  per  cent.,  and  the  chances  of  human 
life  diminished  44  per  cent.” — Dr.  Kott's  Lectures,  p.  25. 

In  Ireland  when  the  distilleries  were  stopped  (1808)  crime 
decreased  amazingly.  Again,  when  in  1810  they  recommenced 
operations,  the  commitments  increased  nearly  four-fold. 

In  1840,  owing  to  the  Great  Temperance  Agitation  conducted 
by  Father  Mathew,  the  public-houses  within  the  police  bounds 
of  Dublin  had  lessened  by  237,  and  the  prisoners  in  the  Rich¬ 
mond  Bridewell,  which  had  numbered  136  on  the  1st  September, 
1839,  were  reduced  to  23,  or  one-sixth  in  November,  1840.  In 
consequence  of  100  cells  being  empty  in  the  Bridewell,  the 
Smithfield  prison  was  closed. 

Lord  Morpeth,  when  Secretary  for  Ireland,  gave  the  following 
statistics  in  a  speech  on  the  condition  of  Ireland,  delivered  after 
a  public  dinner  in  Dublin.  Of  cases  of  murder,  assault  with 
attempt  to  murder,  outrageous  offence  against  the  person, 
aggravated  assault,  cutting  and  maiming,  there  were  in 

1837  .  12,096  .  1839  .  1,097 

1838  .  11,058  .....  1840  .  173 

It  further  appears  that  the  number  of  persons  charged  with 
murder  within  the  police  boundaries  of  Dublin,  was  in 

1838  .  14  .  1840  .  2 

1839  .  4  .  1841  .  1 


40  THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

From'  1838  the  Temperance  Agitation  had  been  going  on,  and 
on  the  30th  October,  Father  Mathew  had  inscribed  in  his  roll 
of  teetotalers  upwards  of  2,500,000  names.  The  consumption 
of  spirits  for  the  year  1840  (ending  5th  January  1841),  had 
fallen,  in  round  numbers,  to  7,000,000  gallons;  whereas  in  1838 
it  was  12,000,000  gallons.  Hence  the  falling  oft  in  the  calen¬ 
dar.” — Teetotalers  Companion,  p.  385-6. 

Now,  whilst  a  very  large  proportion  of  crimes  in  general,  flows 
from  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  crimes  of  violence,  suicides, 
and  prostitution,  have  almost  their  sole  cause  here. 

Judge  Wightman,  in  his  address  to  the  Grand  Jury,  at  the 
Crown  Court,  Liverpool,  in  August,  1846,  said,  “Of  ninety- 
two  persons  whose  names  were  on  the  calendar,  six  weie  chaiged 
with  wilful  murder,  twelve  with  manslaughter,  thirteen  with 
malicious  injury  to  the  person,  sixteen  with  burglary,  and  eight 
with  highway  robbery,  accompanied  with  violence  to  the  peison. 
lie  found  from  a  perusal  of  the  depositions,  one  unfailing  cause 
of  four-fifths  of  these  crimes  was,  as  it  was  in  every  other,  the 
besetting  sin  of  drunkenness.  In'  almost  all  the  cases  of 

PERSONAL  VIOLENCE  AND  INJURY,  TIIE  SCENE  WAS  A  PUBLIC-HOUSE 
OR  A  BEER-SHOP.” 

It  is  when  men’s  passions  are  excited,  and  their  better  natures 
blunted  by  strong  drink,  that  they  commit  these  terrible  crimes, 
and  shed  the  blood  of  their  fellows.  These  crimes  of  violence 
and  bloodshed  flow,  indeed,  from  that  terrible  hcmicidal  mania 
induced  by  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  confession  of  Dr.  Pritchard,  of  Glasgow, 
executed  for  the  murder,  by  poison,  of  his  wife  and  mother-in- 
law.  In  his  first  confession  to  the  prison  authorities  he  states : 

“  Mrs.  Pritchard  was  much  better  immediately  after  her 
mother’s  death,  but  subsequently  became  exhausted  from  want 
of  sleep.  I  accounted  for  this  by  the  shock  produced  by  her 
mother’s  death,  and,  hardly  knowing  how  to  act,  at  her  own 
request,  I  gave  her  chloroform.  It  was  aboift  midnight:  Mary 
McLeod  was  in  the  room,  and  in  an  evil  moment,— being,  besides, 
somewhat  excited  by  wiiisky, — I  yielded  to  the  temptation  to 
give  her  sufficient  to  cause  death  ;  which  i  did.  ’  In  his  second 
confession  he  says : 

“  I,  Edward  William  Pritchard,  in  the  full  possession  of  all  my  senses, 
and  understanding  the  awful  position  in  which  I  am  placed,  do  make 
free  and  open  confession  that  the  sentence  pronounced  upon  me  is  just; 


SUICIDE,  AND  THE  SOCIAL  EVIL. 


41 


that  I  am  guilty  of  the  death  of  my  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Taylor,  and  of 
my  wife,  Mary  Jane  Pritchard;  that  I  can  assign  no  motive  for  the 
conduct  which  actuated  me  beyond  a  species  of  terrible  madness  and  the 
USE  of  ARDENT  SPIRITS." 

From  alcohol  instigating  the  murder  of  others,  go  to  alcohol 
prompting  to  suicide. — What  a  dark,  hopeless  crime  is  this  of 
self-murder!  A  man  rushing,  blood-stained  and  unbidden,  into 
the  awful  presence  of  his  Judge.  How  black  must  be  the 
despair,  how  wild  the  anguish,  of  those  who  thus  throw  wantonly 
away,  Heaven's  choicest  gift  of  life.  In  London  alone,  500  cases 
of  suicide  occur  annually.  In  18.68,  there  perished  by  self- 
murder  in  the  United  Kingdom,  1,546  persons.  Yes!  1,546 
weary  of  life,  and  heedless  of  the  unseen  future,  in  the  intensity 
of  their  misery  and  the  terrible  frenzy  of  their  minds,  put  a 
sudden  end  to  their  earthly  existence.  “In  France,  in  1841,  out 
of  2,814  cases  of  suicide,  185  are  expressly  said  to  have  com¬ 
mitted  the  fatal  act  either  while  drunk,  or  after  drinking.  This 
shows  drunkenness  even  there,  to  be  tiie  most  frequent  of 
the  known  causes  of  suicide,  with  the  exception  of  domestic 
grief  and  physical  pain.  Probe  these  again,  to  their  causes, 
and  drink  takes  first  rank.  People  confound  motives  with 
causes. — A  man  destroys  himself  under  a  certain  notion  or 
impression — that  is  insanity — but,  perhaps  drink  is  the  cause. 
.  .  .  .  Of  38^cases  of  suicide  carefully  reported  at 

Aberdeen,  the  assigned  causes  were  insanity,  disappointed  love, 
and  family  quarrels  (vexation)  ;  but  it  is,  added  that  twenty 
were  intoxicated  before  the  act,  and  seventeen  were  habitual 
drunkards.’1 — Dr.  Lees's  Prize  Essay,  p.  202. 

Take  the  Social  Evil,  of  which  strong  drink  is  the  fruitful  cause, 
and  the  public-house  its  main  support,  for  drink  both  originates 
and  sustains  it.  Public-houses  and  brothels  are  not  only 
intimately  related,  but  in  a  great  many  instances,  identical.  It 
has  been  ascertained  that  in  England  and  Wales  there  are  2,123 
public-houses,  and  2,034  beer-shops,  used  as  brothels.  The 
Society  for  the  Protection  of  Females  informs  us  that  there  are 
twenty-nine  public-houses  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  where  private 
rooms  are  kept  for  thirty- three  women  of  loose  character. 

In  London,  with  its  more  than  3,000,000  inhabitants,  there 
are  now  above  10,000  women  of  this  class. 

According  to  the  First  Report  of  the  Constabulary  Force 
Commissioners  (1839),  there  were  in  London,  6,371  prostitutes, 


42 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


to  a  population  of  1,516,593,  or  1  in  237 ;  in  Bath  393  to  a 
population  of  59,000,  or  1  in  150;  in  Hull  418  to  a  population 
of  60,000,  or  1  in  143;  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne  4ol  to  a  popu¬ 
lation  of  55,000,  or  1'  in  121;  in  Bristol  1,267  to  a  population 
of  110,000,  or  1  in  86;  in  Liverpool  3,600  to  a  population  o 
213  000  or  1  in  59/  The  average  proportion  of  the  whole  is  l 
prostitute  to  every  132  of  the  population.  Reckoning  the  num  jer 
of  adult  females  as  one-sixth  of  the  whole  population,  this  gives 
us  1  prostitute  to  every  supposed  22  virtuous  women 

It  has  been  computed  that  the  average  duration  of  life  ot  tins 
class  is  from  4  to  10  years;  half-way  between  the  two  extremes 
gives  an  average  of  7  years.  Now  the  social  evil  has  not  dimin¬ 
ished  ;  in  fact,  it  has  grown  with  our  growth,  or  rather  with  Lie 
growth  of  the  liquor  traffic.  At  the  present  time  there  are,  plying 
their  deadly  trade  in  all  our  largS  centres  of  population,  about 
90,000  prostitutes.  And  the  bulk  of  these  pass  away  in  se\en 
years— and  how  ?  Some  perish  by  their  own  rash  hands  ;  others 
perish  forlorn  and  forsaken,  a  mass  of  loathsome  disease;  and 
yet  their  number  is  not  diminished  ;  other  90,000  are  found  o 
have  taken  their  place,  to  pass  through  the  same  brief  and 
blighted  career,  and  in  their  turn  to  meet  the  same  sad  end. 

As  we  gaze  upon  this  diseased  and  degraded  sisterhood— many 
of  them  still  lovely  amid  their  ruin,  we  are  led  to  inquire,  Whence 
come  they?  And  the  answer  is  too  clear  to  be  mistaken,  lhey 
arc,  for  the  most  part,  the  product  of  our  Ruinous  Drink  System. 
It  is  in  the  public-house  that  many  of  them  receive  their  hrst 
taint.  The  social  glass  blunts  their  moral  perceptions,  and  throws 
them  off  their  guard,  and  thus  they  become  an  easy  prey  to  the 
wiles  of  the  seducer.  Thousands  of  them  come  from  their  sweet 
country  households,  in  all  their  health  and  beauty,  blooming  as 
the  heather  upon  their  native  hills,  or  the  roses  that  adorn  the 
walls  of  their  cottage  homes.  Led  astray  through  the  terrible 
agency  of  strong  drink,  they  flock  to  our  large  towns,  and  there 
commence  their  sad  career.  To  drown  the  pangs  of  conscience, 
the  bitterness  of  remorse,  and  the  deep  sense  of  shame,  they  fly 
to  strong  drink,  and  thus  become  confirmed  in  vice.  In  a  very 
short  time,  a  few  months  in  some,  a  few  years  in  others,  their 
bloom  and  beauty  fade,  and  they  become  cither  bloated  and  blas¬ 
pheming  monsters,  with  every  womanly  attribute  eradicated,  or 
poor  emaciated  and  diseased  outcasts,  homeless  and  hopeless. 

The  Publicans,  as  a  class;  are  notorious  violators  of  law.  I  ew 


PUBLICANS  NOTORIOUS  VIOLATORS  OF  LAW.  43 


of  them  indeed  comply  with  the  conditions  of  their  licenses; 
and,  what  is  worse,  the  magistrates,  by  the  tolerant  manner  in 
which  they  treat  these  offences,  providing  they  do  not  affect  the 
revenue,  connive  at  them,  and  are  thus  partakers  of  publicans’ 
transgressions. 

The  law,  too,  is  lax  as  well  as  its  administrators.  An  important 
Publican  Appeal  case  was  heard  at  Durham  Quarter  Sessions,  on 
Wednesday,  January  5th,  1370.  Mr.  William  Campbell,  the 
landlord  of  a  public-house  near  the  Market-Place,  South  Shields, 
had  appealed  against  the  decision  of  the  Mayor  of  South  Shields 
and  Mr.  Alderman  James,  before  whom  he  had  been  summoned 
for  allowing  drunken  and  disorderly  conduct  in  his  house,  and 
was  convicted  and  fined.  The  evidence  went  to  show  that  men 
were  drunk  when  served  with  drink;  that  one  of  them  had 
been  refused  drink  in  another  public-house,  and  that  they  were 
disorderly  in  the  house ;  but  what  was  the  decision  of  the 
magistrates?  Mr.  Meynell  (one  of  the  magistrates)  submitted 
that  there  was  no  case.  The  appellant  was  convicted  of  “  know¬ 
ingly  allowing  drunken  and  disorderly  conduct  in  his  house,”  but 
by  the  evidence  called  on  behalf  of  the  respondent,  it  was  shown 
that,  no  directly  disorderly  c  mduct  took  place.  Mr.  Wharton 
(another  magistrate)  wished  to  look  into  the  particular  wording 
of  the  Act  of  Parliament.  Mr.  Meynell  said  the  publican  must 
“knowingly  and  wilfully”  allow  drunkenness  in  his  house  before 
be  could  be  convicted.  If  a  person  entered  a  public- house  who 
had  had  drink,  and  stood  quietly  at  the  bar,  how  was  the  person 
serving  him  to  know  that  he  was  drunk?  Mr.  Wharton  (having 
looked  over  the  law  with  the  other  magistrates)  said  the  magis¬ 
trates  did  not  think  that  the  evidence  showed  that  the  defendant 
had  knowingly  and  wilfully  allowed  such  drunken  and  disorderly 
conduct  in  his  house,  and  they  therefore  quashed  the  convic¬ 
tion.  Hence  it  is  almost  impossible  to  convict  in  offences  of 
this  kind,  because  however  drunken  and  disorderly  people  may 
be  in  a  public  house,  it  cannot  be  proven  that  such  drunken  and 
disorderly  conduct  is  “ knowingly  and  wilfully  allowed!” 

During  the  three  years  ending  September  29th,  L86G-7-S,  the 
number  of  public-houses  and  beer-shops  proceeded  against,  and 
fined,  and  the  number  of  licenses  withdrawn  in  a  certain  number 
of  towns  in  England,  excluding  some  of  the  most  notorious,  as 
Liverpool,  Manchester,  and  Hull,  was  as  follows: 

Of  33  towns  with  a  population  of  9,990,921,  the  average  number 


44 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


of  public-houses  and  beer-shops,  for  each  year,  was  4,583  public- 
houses,  and  3,112  beer-shops.  The  average  number  proceeded 
against  each  year  was  396  public-houses,  and  '606  beer-shops. 
The  average  number  fined  was  of  public-houses  319,  of  beer- 
shops  487.  The  average  number  deprived  of  license  was  of 
public-houses  17,  of  beer-shops  one,  in  the  course  of  three  years, 
viz:  at  Newcastle- under  Lyne. 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  large  number  of  offences  committed 
against  the  License  Act,  a  large  number  of  fines,  but  very  few 
licenses  suspended,  showing  at  once  the  criminality  of  the 
traffickers,  and  the  leniency  of  the  magistrates. 

IV. —  The  Drinking  System  is  the  cause  of  pauperism. 

In  the  United  Kingdom  there  are  nearly  1^  million  of  paupers, 
or  one  in  twenty  of  the  entire  population.  To  maintain  these 
we  have  to  pay  annually  in  poor  rates  about  £10,000,900. 

In  London  alone,  containing  a  population  of  3}  millions,  there 
are  300,000  persons  in  receipt  of  parochial  relief,  being  only  a 
trifle  short  of  1  in  10  of  the  population. 

Mr.  Duncan  McLaren,  M.  P.  for  Edinburgh,  recently  stated  in 
Parliament  that  the  poor  rates  of  Scotland  had  risen  nearly  five¬ 
fold  since  1837.  lie  quoted  from  the  Report  of  the  Poor-Law 
Board,  the  statement  that  out  of  a  population  of  only  3,100,000 
in  Scotland,  as  many  as  350,000  [or  1  in  9]  had  received  paro¬ 
chial  assistance. 

Now  we  have  very  strong  evidence  that  fully  three-fourths  of 
this  pauperism  is  produced  by  drinking. 

AVe  interrogate  Parliamentary  Reports  upon  Intemperance; 
we  interrogate  Committees  appointed  by  large  and  influential 
denominations  of  Christians;  we  interrogate  Masters  of AUork- 
houses,  and  those  whom  duty  or  philanthropy  call  to  mingle 
with  the  poor;  and  the  uniform  testimony  of  all  is,  that  three- 
fourths  to  eight  ninths  of  our  pauperism  is  occasioned  by  the 
reckless  expenditure  on  the  part,  of  the  people  in  that  one  perni¬ 
cious  article — Intoxicating  Liquor. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  following  testimonies  from  the  report  on 
intemperance,  of  the  Lower  House  of  Convocation,  Canterbury. 

Testimony  of  Clergy: 

788. —  This  Union,  consisting  of  80  000  persons,  lias  to  support  eight 
pauper  lunatics,  at.  a  charge  of  £20  per  annum  each.  About  two- thirds 
of  these  cases  have  been  traced  to  drink.  Two  or  three  cases  of  pauper 
lunacy  occur  every  year. 


PRODUCING  PAUPERISM. 


45 


Testimony  of  Governors  of  Workhouses : 

■  811. — Asa  Poor  Law  officer  in  this  Union  of  twenty  years  standing* 
and  an  abstainer  of  seventeen  years  standing,  I  feel  sure  that  nine-tenths 
of  the  paupers  who  have  come  under  my  cognizance  have  been  the  victims 
of  intemperance  ....  We  have  bad  many  who  were  once  in  affluent 
circumstances;  at  the  present  time  we  have  one  who  not  very  long  since 
was  a  Warden  of  a  Parish  Church,  and  a  well-to-do  farmer,  but  drink  has 
brought  him  here. 

816 — The  proportion  of  adult  paupers  in  the  workhouse  who  have 
become  the  victims  of  intemperance  is  very  great — probably  about  80  per 
cent,  of  the  entire  number.  I  am  also  sorry  to  add  a  great  number  of 
them  have  never  been  married,  thus  showing  that  a  long  life  of  sixty  or 
seventy  years  has  been  spent  in  drunkenness  and  improvidence. 

This  remark  applies  chiefly  to  men.  The  aged  women  here  are  paupers 
mainly  because  of  the  inability  of  their  friends  to  provide  for  them  at 
home.  Of  the  younger  women,  the  whole  of  them  (with  the  exception  of 
two  or  three  imbeciles)  have  brought  themse  ves  to  their  present  degrada¬ 
tion  through  profligacy,  the  increase  of  which  throughout  the  country 
generally  is  becoming  very  alarming. 

869. — Nineteen-twentieths  of  the  able-bodied  men,  two-thirds  of  the  aged 
men,  three-fifths  of  the  able-bodied  women,  one-fifth  of  the  aged  women, 
are  victims  of  intemperance. 

On  the  contrary,  in  localities  where  this  vice  does  not  obtain, 
the  liquor  traffic  being  suppressed,  little  or  no  pauperism  is  to  be 
found.  Take  the  following  testimonies  extracted  from  the  same 
Report. 

2173. — One  habitual  drunkard.  He  is  the  only  person  I  have  ever 
known  to  be  drunk  in  the  parish  for  the  last  twenty  years.  No  case  of 
crime  or  lunacy  for  many  years.  No  paupers,  except  a  few  worn  out 
people.  Under  God,  I  attribute  this  satisfactory  state  of  the  parish  in 
respect  to  this  evil,  mainly  to  there  being  no  public-house  or  beer- shop.  I 
cannot  speak  too  strongly  on  the  influence  for  good  that  the  circumstance 
of  there  being  no  public-house  or  beer-shop  has  exercised  on  the  popula¬ 
tion.  I  may  say  the  same  of  C - ,  of  which  I  am  incumbent,  in  which 

there  is  no  public-house  or  beer-shop. 

2179.  — Never  had  a  public-house  or  beer-shop  of  any  description  in  the 
parish,  or  within  a  mile  of  it.  I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  intoxication 
except  in  hay-making  and  harvest  in  the  hottest  summer.  Crime  rare; 
only  one  person  apprehended  within  the  last  twenty  years,  for  arson. 
Cost  very  small  for  maintaining  the  poor  of  this  parish. 

2180.  — No  crime,  paujyerism,  or  lunacy. 

We  cannot  wonder  at  pauperism  being  produced  by  the  drink 
traffic,  when  we  consider  that  the  most  desolating  famines 


46  THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

attended  with  great  loss  of  life,  have  been  produced  by  it. 
During  the  reign  of  Philip  and  Mary,  such  was  the  rage  for 
“  Usquebaugh”  in  Ireland,  that  the  inhabitants  of  that  country 
converted  their  grain  into  spirit  to  such  an  extent  as  not  to  leave 
themselves  sufficient  for  food  to  sustain  life.  Famine  and  priva¬ 
tion  were  the  result,  and  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  this  state  of 
things,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  to  check  the  practice  of 
free  distillation.  When  famine  again  desolated  that  ill-fated 
land  in  1847-8,  and  the  greatest  distress  and  privation  were 
experienced  by  the  poor,  it  was  distinctly  proved  that  we  had  an 
ample  supply  of  grain  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  people;  but 
instead  of  being  brought  into  the  market  to  be  disposed  of  as 
food,  it  was  locked  up  in  the  granaries  of  breweries  and  distil¬ 
leries  to  be  wantonly  destroyed  in  the  manufacture  of  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquor ;  as  a  terrible  result,  half  a  million  of  people 
perished  of  starvation. 

Every  drink-cursed  country  is  in  a  state  of  chronic  famine, 
which  stalks  the  purlieus  and  courts  of  their  large  towns, 
causing  tens  of  thousands  of  the  people  to  lack  the  common 
necessaries  of  life,  and  pine  away  and  die. 

Neither  can  we  wonder  at  the  huge  proportions  of  pauperism 
in  our  midst,  when  we  consider  the  large  sums  of  money  ex¬ 
pended  every  year  by  the  laboring  classes  upon  intoxicating 
liquor. 

Professor  Leone  Levi  estimates  the  annual  earnings  of  our 
working  classes  at  £418,000,000,  distributed  among  12,000,000 
workers,  and  that  this  class  expends  annually  £50,000,000  in 
intoxicating  liquors:  that  is,  about  £  of  the  entire  income ;  and 
that  working  men  earning  2">s.  to  80s.  per  week  expend  upon 
the  average  5 s.  a  week  in  drink.  This  calculation  is  based  upon 
the  excisable  value  of  the  liquor  consumed  amounting  to 
£80,000,000,  and  makes  no  allowance  for  dilution  and  adultera¬ 
tion. 

Mr.  AY.  Hoyle  computes  the  expenditure  for  18G8  at 
£102,88G,280.  Assigning  the  same  proportion  as  before  to 
the  working  classes,  viz:  five-eighths  of  the  whole,  the  amount 
expended  will  be  £G4,303,925,  or  a  little  less  than  one-sixth  of 
their  whole  income.  If  from  this  estimate  we  deduct  the  teeto¬ 
talers,  the  proportion  of  earnings  expended  in  drink  by  the 
drinkers  must  be  very  much  greater.  I  am  acquainted  with  a 
working  man,  a  moulder,  earning  £2  10s.  a  week,  £2  of  which  ho 


OBSTRUCTING  TRADE  AND  COMMERCE. 


47 


expends  in  drink,  leaving  10s.  only  to  support  his  wife  and 
family.  In  consequence,  the  children  are  poorly  fed  and  clad, 
have  neither  shoes  nor  stockings  to  wear,  and  the  miserable 
apartment  they  occupy  is  but  scantily  furnished.  There  is  not 
a  chair  in  it  that  is  not  broken. 

Many  of  the  puddlers,  shinglers,  rollers,  &c.,  working  at  the 
iron  works  in  the  North  of  England,  earn  from  £3  to  £6  per 
week,  and  }ret,  for  the  most  part,  their  homes  are  bare  of  furni¬ 
ture,  and  their  children  are  poorly  fed  and  thinly  clad,  nearly 
the  whole  of  their  large  income  being  expended  upon  intoxicating 
liquor.  Indeed,  it  is  not  at  all  unusual  for  men  of  this  stamp, 
when  they  have  only  a  small  pay  to  take,  say  from  30s.  to  £2, 
to  go  to  the  public-house  and  spend  it  all  in  a  single  day. 

V. —  The  Drinking  System  as  obstructing  Trade  and  Commerce. 

That  the  drinking  system  is  at  war  with  the  interests  of 
labor,  we  have  already  seen.  It  demoralizes  the  working-man, 
and  incapacitates  him  for  continuous  toil;  hence  he  loses  time , 
and  money.  Cut  the  drinking  system  also  lessens  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  labor,  and,  by  throwing  a  larger  number  of  the  unem¬ 
ployed  into  the  labor  market,  loAvers  wages.  The  rate  of  wages 
is  regulated  very  much  by  the  degree  of  competition  in  the 
labor  market.  When  the  number  of  laborers  far  exceeds  the 
demand,  wages  are  low ;  when  laborers  are  scarce,  then  wages 
rise.  When  supply  and  demand  in  the  labor  market  are  in 
equipoise,  wages  attain  a  mediocrity,  and  the  working  man  can 
at  least  obtain  “  a  fair  day's  wage  for  a  fair  day’s  work.” 

Evidently  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  working  class  to  lessen 
competition  as  much  as  possible  in  the  labor  market,  and  so 
to  raise  the  price  of  labor.  Any  traffic  which,  on  account  of  its 
peculiar  and  pernicious  character,  gluts  the  labor  market,  by 
lessening  the  demand  for  labor,  must  be  antagonistic  to  the 
interests  of  the  working-man.  We  shall  now  show  that  the 
liquor  traffic  does  this. 

1. — It  invests  capital  in  such  a  manner  as  to  employ  the  least 
amount  of  labor.  It  has  been  urged  that  “the  traffic  emp toys 
labor.”  True  !  But  it  debauches  and  ruins  those  it  emplovs, 
and  at  the  same  time  it  employs  very  little  labor  in  proportion 
to  its  capital.  In  the  Scotsman  newspaper  for  January  2d, 
I860,  there  is  a  description  of  the  Caledonian  Distillery  at 
Edinburgh.  In  this  distillery  we  learn  that  40,000  gallons  of 
spirits  are  manufactured  weekly,  or  2,01)0,000  per  annum.  At 


48 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

16s.  per  gallon,  this  would  be  over  £1,500,000;  the  quantity  of 
grain  consumed  is  800,000  bushels;  the  number  of  men  em¬ 
ployed  is  stated  to  be  150  only.  Now,  if  this  £1,500,000  were 
spent  upon  manufactured  goods,  or  in  building  houses,  or  drain¬ 
ing  waste  land,  it  would  give  employment  to  from  12,000  to 
15,000  persons;  and  if  the  whole  sum  spent  in  intoxicating 
drinks  were  appropriated  to  such  work,  it  would  find  employ¬ 
ment  for  at  least  1,200,000  more  people  than  are  at  present 
engaged. — Hoyle ;  An  Inquiry  into  the  Causes  of  the  present 
Depression  in  the  Cotton  Trade,  pp.  12,  13. 

Thus,  if  the  liquor  traffic  was  entirely  suppressed,  employ¬ 
ment  could  be  found  not  only  for  those  now  employed  in  it,  but 
for  far  more  than  all  the  able  bodied  unemployed  in  the  country: 
the  labor  market  would  be  at  once  relieved,  competition  for 
men  would  increase,  and  wages  rise. 

2. — In  the  manufacture  of  intoxicating  liquor  a  large  propor¬ 
tion  of  the  capital  invested  goes  to  the  . government  and  the  manu¬ 
facturer,  and  thus  again  does  it  prove  antagonistic  to  the 
interests  of  the  working-man. 

It  has  been  computed  that  in  the  manufacture  of  a  pound’s 
worth  of  intoxicating  liquor,  sixpence  only  falls  to  the  share  of 
the  laborer,  whilst  the  average  amount  paid  for  labor  in  the 
manufacture  of  articles  of  utility  and  commerce  amounts  on  the 
average  to  about  8 s.  0d.  in  the  pound. 

Take,  for  illustration,  one  gallon  of  gin  containing  about  51 
per  cent,  alcohol.  This  the  publican  reduces  by  dilution  to 
about  37  per  cent.,  and  retails  it  out  to  the  consumer  at  16s. 
per  gallon,  or  22s.  for  the  one  gallon  as  received  direct  from  the 
distillery.  Now  of  this  sum  10s.  goes  to  government  as  duty. 
The  manufacturer  pockets  2s.  bd.  for  raw  material,  working 
expenses,  and  profit.  Sixpence  is  given  to  the  laborer,  and  9s. 
finds  its  way  into  the  publican’s  till  .as  profit. 

Professor  Kirk,  of  Edinburgh,  puts  the  prime  cost  of  300 
gallons  of  whisky  at  £20,  thevCaledonian  Distillery  selling  it 
wholesale  at  Is.  4c?.  a  gallon.  Government  lays  on  a  charge  in 
excise  dues  and  license  fees  to  the  amount  of  £155.  The  300 
gallons  of  whisky  thus  costs  the  publican  £175.  To  reduce 
this  whisky  to  the  ordinary  drinking  strength,  there  is  added 
133J  gallons  of  water.  The  liquor  thus  reduced  is  sold  (at  16s. 
a  gallon)  for  £346  13s.  Ad.  The  publican  pockets  out  of  that 
amount,  £171  13s.  Ad.  Hence  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 


AT  WAR  WITH  THE  WORKING-CLASSES.  49 

300  gallons  of  whisky,  10s.  only  goes  to  labor,  £19  10s.  to 
the  capitalist,  £155  to  government,  and  £171  13s.  4 d..  to  the 
publican. 

Now  take  £20  worth  of  cutlery,  purchased  retail.  Of  this 
£8  10s.  is  paid  to  labor;  £7  goes  as  profit  to  the  hardware  man, 
and  £4  10s.  only  to  the  capitalist  for  purchase  of  raw  material 
and  for  profit. 

For  £1  in  value,  in  the  manufacture  of  silk,  7s.  goes  to  labor; 
in  shoes  7s.  4 d. ;  earthenware  8s. ;  linen  yarn  9s.  8 d. ;  fine  woollen 
cloth  12s.;  table  cutlery  13s.;  coals  18s.;  scissors  19s.  2c?.;  while 
in  the  manufacture  of  pins,  needles,  trinkets,  watches,  and  other 
delicate  articles  in  metal,  the  amount  is  even  greater. 

Thus  we  see,  that  by  employing  but  little  labor,  and  by 
sharing  with  that  labor  only  a  very  small  proportion  of  the 
profits,  the  liquor  traffic  is  at  war  with  the  interests  of  the  work¬ 
ing-man,  and  its  destruction  becomes  a  working-man’s  question ; 
and  we  also  see  that  every  working-man  that  expends  his  money 
upon  intoxicating  liquor  is  guilty  of  a  suicidal  policy  against 
the  interests  of  his  class,  for  he  circulates  his  money  in  a 
channel  that  brings  the  smallest  possible  returns  to  his  own 
class.  In  every  pound  he  expends  upon  drink,  he  only  gives  his 
brother  workman  sixpence,  whilst  for  every  pound  he  expends 
upon  other  classes  of  products,  of  a  useful  and  necessary  char¬ 
acter,  he  gives  his  brother  workman  upon  an  average  eight  and 
sixpence. 

“  Now,  the  available  wealth  of  the  community  is,  in  three 
ways,  calculated  to  be  increased  by  the  diffusion  of  teetotalism — 
first,  by  preserving  that  portion  at  present  lavished  on  intoxicat¬ 
ing  liquors,  which  considered  commercially,  may  be  said  to  be 
thrown  away ;  secondly,  by  increasing  the  average  wages  of  the 
working-man  through  a  more  regular  attention  to  labor;  and 
thirdly,  by  raising  the  scale  of  wages.  The  first  and  second 
points  were  well  exemplified  after  Father  Mathew’s  visit  to 
Waterford,  at  the  Knockmahon  mines  in  the  neighborhood, 
where  about  1,000  persons  were  employed.  Previous  to  his  visit, 
the  earnings  of  these  mines  averaged  £1,900  per  month,  but  the 
monthly  average  of  the  year  following  was  not  less  than  £2,300, 
an  addition  of  £100  per  month,  or  £5,200  per  annum!  Formerly 
the  same  number  of  people  spent  £500  of  their  month’s  wages 
in  drink,  by  which  their  available  wealth  was  reduced  to  £1,400 
per  month.  After  the  introduction  of  total  abstinonce  very 


50 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


little  was  spent  in  drink,  but  allowing  this  very  little  to  have 
been  £100  monthly,  the  money  at  the  disposal  of  these  1,000 
person's  would  be  still  £800  per  month,  or  £10,400  yearly,  more 
than  it  had  been!  Under  the  drinking  system  the  total  availa¬ 
ble  money  of  these  people  was  £18,200  annually,  under  the 
teetotal  system  it  amounted  to  £28,600!  Well,  indeed,  might 
the  commerce  of  Waterford  be  doubled  after  the  visit  of  Father 
Mathew.” — The  Teetotalers  Companion,  by  Peter  Bivne ,  p.  486. 

The  liquor  traffic  is  also  at  war  with  the  interests  of  manufac¬ 
tures  and  capital. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  interests  of  labor  and.  of 
capital  are  antagonistic,  and  that  if  labor  receive  benefit,  capital 
must  suffer,  because  such  benefit  must  be  at  the  expense  of 
capital.  In  a  limited  sense  this  is  really  the  case,  but  here, 
however,  their  interests  are  identical. 

The  prosperity  of  the  mercantile  and  manufacturing  interests 
depends  upon  two  things  principally.  1st.  The  general  character 
of  the  workman.  2d.  A  good  market,  which  means  a  good 
demand. 

Now,  anything  that  detracts  from  the  skill,  steadiness,  energy, 
and  reliability  of  the  workman  must  most  obviously  be  opposed 
to  the  interests  of  the  employer.  But  the  drinking  system  does 
this.  The  excessive  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  to  which  ,  so 
many  of  our  ablest  artizans  are  addicted,  blunts  the  obseiving 
powers,  and  detracts  from  that  fineness  of  touch  and  steadiness 
of  hand  so  necessary  in  many  departments  of  manufacture.  It 
also  detracts  from  their  energy  and  steadiness.  The  workman 
who  drinks  cannot  infuse  the  same  degree  of  energy  into  his 
work  as  the  man  who  does  not  drink.  Then,  too,  he  of 
necessity  incurs  loss  of  time  ;  his  debauch  on  Saturday  and 
Sunday  incapacitates  him  for  work  at  the  commencement  of 
the  week,  so  that  he  is  compelled  to  keep  Saint  Monday,  and 
sometimes  Saint  Tuesday  also;  and  however  skilful  he  may 
be,  this  is  a  very  serious  check  to  its  efficient  exercise.  Says 
W.  E.  Ilearn,  LL>D.,  in  his  Plutology ,  “However  great  may  be 
the  natural  powers  of  the  laborer,  or  however  consummate  his 
skill,  or  however  bright  his, general  intelligence,  the  industrial 
importance  of  these  qualities  manifestly  depends  upon  the  mode 
in  which  they  are  exercised.^  It  is  not  the  mere  existence  of 
natural  or  acquired  powers,  but  their  actual  employment,  that 
determines  their  utility.  The  principal  regulator,  therefoie,  of 


AT  WAR  WITH  MANUFACTURE  AND  CAPITAL*  51 


the  efficiency  of  labor  is  the  habitual  energy  with  which  the 
laborer  pursues  his  work.  It  is  not  enough  that  a  man  should 
on  an  emergency  be  capable  of  making  great  exertions.  Such 
litiul  efforts  are  generally  followed  by  a  corresponding  rer.c  ion, 
and,  at  best,  fall  far  short  of  the  effects  of  steady  and  constant 
work.  In  every  occupation  we  daily  see  the  success  which 
attends  patient  i  erscverance,  and  the  occasional  failure  of  even 
great  natural  powers  when  irregularly  exerted.  The  clever  work¬ 
man  who  wastes  half  the  week  in  idleness  and  dissipation,  but  who 
in  the  remaining  half  can  earn  what  is  sufficient  for  his  support, 
is  gradually  left  behind  by  his  less  quick  but  more  persevering 
competitor.  Similar  results  are  familiar  in  professional  life.” 

The  drinking  system  also  detracts  from  the  reliability  of  the 
workman.  Indeed,  what  dependence  can  be  placed  in  a  drunken 
servant,  who  regards  the  gratification  of  his  appetite  as  of  far 
greater  importance  than  the  interest  of  his  employer?  As  a 
rule,  he  does  all  he  can  to  shirk  his  work,  and  to  dp  as  little  as 
possible  for  his  money.  And  then,  if  the  work  be  taken  by 
contract,  which  the  employer  has  to  finish  at  a  given  date, 
however  urgent  the  case  may  be,  there  can  be  no  dependence 
placed  in  the  workman  that  the  job  will  then  be  done,  for  he 
may  get  drunk  in  the  meantime,  and  neglect  his  work  entirely, 
to  the  great  inconvenience,  or  the  loss,  of  the  employer.  Indeed, 
the  greatest  losses  sustained  bv  employers  arise  from  the  general 
unsteadiness  and  unreliability  of  the  employes,  produced  by 
their  intemperate  habits. 

The  Select  Committee  on  Drunkenness,  of  which  Lord  Althorpe. 
Sir  11.  Peel,  Mr.  J.  S.  Buckingham,  Mr.  Hawes,  and  other  dis¬ 
tinguished  men  were  members,  estimated  that  one  million  out  of 
every  six  of  the  whole  manufactured,  mineral,  and  agricultural 
productions  of  the  United  Kingdom,  was  the  loss  sustained  by  the 
commerce  of  this  country  from  this  cause  alone. 

In  the  Minority  Report  of  the  Select  Committee,  to  whom  Mr. 
J.  A.  Smith’s  “  Sale  of  Liquors  on  Sunday  Bill”  was  referred, 
we  find  the  following  testimony: 

Mr.  Cockburn,  the  foreman  of  Messrs.  Pease’s  ironstone  mines, 
in  Yorkshire,  has  given  evidence  (5,951)  of  a  loss  of  labor,  not 
properly  accounted  for,  of  0.78  out  of  5.92,  equal  to  three-fourths 
of  a  day  each  man  per  week,  and  this  he  largely  ascribes  to  Sun¬ 
day  drinking.  lie  adds  (5,953),  “It  entails  very  serious  loss 
upon  the  owners  of  property  themselves,  and  not  only  upon 


52 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


them,  but  upon  the  various  works  depending  upon  theirs,  as  they 
are  the  producers  of  the  raw  material ;  and  there  is  the  same 
staff  to  keep  for  the  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday,  ofcleiks 
and  officers,  and  men  about  the  place,  as  there  is  on  the  Thurs¬ 
day,  Friday,  and  Saturday ;  and  that  gives  something  like  three 
half-pence  more  per  ton  in  the  working  cost  for  the  first  three 
days.”  And  he  proceeds  to  state  that  “  their  being  off  on  the 
Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  is  from  the  effects  of  their 
drinking,  principally  on  the  Sabbath-day.” 

Ae;ain,  the  drinking  system  is  detrimental  to  the  interests  of 
manufacture  and  capital,  because  it  diminishes  consumption. 
The  man  who  spends  his  earnings  in  strong  drink  can’t  afford  to 
clothe  and  feed  properly  either  himself  or  family  ;  and  he  is  also 
under  the  necessity  of  considerably  lowering  his  standard  of 
domestic  comfort.  It  is  very  seldom  that  he  can  treat  himself 
to  a  new  coat,  or  his  wife  to  a  new  frock  or  bonnet,  whilst  his 
children  must  go  without  shoes  or  stockings.  His  rooms,  if 
indeed  he  occupies  more  than  one,  are  not  overstocked  with 
furniture,  and  there  is  a  sad  dearth  of  those  little  elegancies  that 
adorn  the  homes  of  our  sober,  industrious  classes. 

In  1808  £102,886,280  was  expended  upon  intoxicating  liquor. 
This  lavish  and  reckless  expenditure  upon  a  most  pernicious 
and  unproductive  article,  must  prove  detrimental  to  the  demand 
for  useful  and  necessary  goods.  The  liquor  traffic  is  not  a 
necessary  traffic,  since  many  places  do  exceedingly  well  with¬ 
out  it;  neither  is  it  a  useful  traffic,  for  it  adds  nothing  to 
the  comforts  or  elegancies  of  life.  It  neither  garnishes  our 
apartments  nor  improves  our  persons.  On  the  contrary,  it  i3 
a  dangerous  and  destructive  traffic.  Says  the  lion.  Amasa 
Walker,  in  his  “  Science  of  Wealth  “  If  labor  expends  itself 
on  objects  that  do  not  stimulate  to  further  efforts,  or  serve  as  in¬ 
struments  to  further  production,  but  rather  debauch  the  energies 
and  corrupt  the  faculties,  it  is  evident  that  reproduction  will  be 
lessened  and  debased,  and  the  whole  course  of  labor  will  be 
downward.  If,  on  the  contrary,  labor  expends  itself  on  objects 
that  present  fresh  and  urgent  desires,  and  excite  to  renewed  ac¬ 
tivities,  it  is  evident  that  the  course  of  production  is  upward, 
and  the  people  will  rise  economically,  with  a  rapidity  and  force 
such  as  signalized  the  career  in  the  fourteenth  century  ot  Flor¬ 
ence ;  in  the  seventeenth,  of  Holland;  in  the  eighteenth,  of 
England:  in  the  nineteenth,  of  the  United  States.” 

O'  1 


THE  RELATION  OF  GREAT  INDUSTRIES. 


53 


The  above  applies  with  great  force  to  the  traffic  in  strong 
drink.  The  labor  expended  in  this  traffic  is  worse  than  thrown 
away.  It  “  does  not  stimulate  to  further  efforts, ”  except  in  its 
own  special  department,  which  of  course  is  a  still  further  wasto 
and  misapplication  of  energy ;  neither  does  it  ‘‘  serve  as  an 
instrument  to  further  production;”  but  it  does  “debauch  the 
energies,  and  corrupt  the  faculties and  as  a  consequence, 
“reproduction  is  lessened  and  debased,  and  the  whole  course  of 
labor  is  downward.” 

The  world’s  great  industries  are  intimately  connected  with 
each  other.  The  prosperity  of  one  generally  conduces  to  the 
prosperity  of  others.  This  is  invariably  so  in  brisk  times.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  Iron  and  Coal  trades.  Iron  can’t  be  made 
without  coal;  an  improvement  in  the  former  leads  to  an  improve¬ 
ment  in  the  latter.  This  even  holds  good  in  those  industries 
supposed  to  be  antagonistic,  as  the  cotton  and  wool  trades.  Afc 
present  we  have  a  great  billing  off  in  the  cotton  trade,  and 
certain  persons  affirm  that  this  arises  from  the  substitution  of 
woollen  for  cotton  goods.  But  this  is  not  so.  Says  Mr.  Iloylc: 
“On  comparing  the  quantity  of  wool  used  in  1806-67-68,  with 
1859-60-61,  I  find  the  increase  is  only  31,000.000  lbs.,  while  the 
falling  off  in  cotton  has  been  212.000,000  lbs  ,  and  if  we  take 
into  account  the  increase  of  population,  the  great  quantity  of 
wool  used  for  horse-cloths  and  manufacturing  purposes,  we  are 
driven  to  the  conclusion  that  there  has  been  no  increase  in  the 
quantity  of  woollen  clothing  used  by  the  population  of  our  own 
country.” 

This  relation  of  industries  holds  good  also  when  applied  to 
the  shipping,  the  agricultural,  and  the  mining. 

There  is,  however,  one  glaring  exception  to  the  rule,  viz:  The 
Liquor  Traffic.  This  is  opposed  to  all  other  industries.  In  this 
respect  it  is  unique;  it  stands  alone  in  horrid  grandeur;  for 
before  its  presence  other  industries  fade  and  languish,  and  that 
too  without  exception. 

The  country  is  full  of  loud  complaints  on  account  of  the 
present  depression  in  trade,  and  many  causes  are  assigned  for  it. 
Some  refer  it  to  the  keen  competition  that  has  sprung  up  be¬ 
tween  ourselves  and  other  countries.  They  affirm  that  nations, 
at  one  time  far  our  inferior  in  certain  branches  of  manufacture, 
now  equal,  or  even  excel  us ;  that  they  can  manufacture  the 
same  class  of  goods  at  a  cheaper  rate,  and  consequently  that 
5* 


54 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


they  are  gradually  driving  us  from  the  great  foreign  marts,  and 
even  competing  successfully  with  us  in  our  markets  at  home. 

Now  if  this  be  true,  there  must  be  a  very  serious  falling  off 
in  our  export  trade,  a  falling  off  nearly  equivalent  to  that  stag¬ 
nation  we  are  now  suffering  under.  Then,  too,  there  must  be 
an  increase  in  our  imports  of  those  manufactured  goods  before 
supplied  by  our  own  manufacturers,  an  increase  sufficient  to 
make  up  the  balance  of  equivalents.  But  is  this  really  the  case? 
No,  indeed. 

The  loudest  complaints  come  from  the  manufacturers  of  cotton. 
Vie  cannot  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact,  that  our  cotton  trade  is  in 
a  very  depressed  state.  But  what  is  the  cause  of  it?  It  arises 
entirely  from  a  falling  off  in  the  home  consumption.  Mr.  Iloyle, 
a  cotton  manufacturer,  in  his  “  Inquiry  into  the  Causes  of  the 
Present  Long-continued  Depression  in  the  Cotton  Trade,”  has 
sho.vn  us  that  the  cotton  goods  exported  from  this  country  during 
the  last  three  years,  is  considerably  greater  than  during  the  three 
years  preceding  the  Crimean  War,  which  were  the  three  best  years 
the  cotton  trade  ever  had;  and  that  our  imports  in  this  class  of 
goods  has  considerably  decreased  during  the  three  years  186G-7-8. 

The  exports ,  in  1S59-G0-61,  amounted  to  7.902,222,910  yards; 
in  ISGG-G7-68,  they  amounted  to  8,374,428,387 ;  an  increase  of 
472,205,477,  or  about  6  per  cent. 

The  imports  from  France,  Holland,  the  Ilanse  Towns,  and 
Belgium,  in  1859-60-61,  amounted  to  23,972,758  lbs;  in  186G- 
G7-G8,  to  28.2G5,GGG  tbs,  a  decrease  of  2d  per  cent.  So  that  our 
exports  to  those  countries  supposed  to  be  outstripping  us  in  the 
manufacture  of  this  class  of  goods  have  increased  G  per  cent, 
whilst  our  imports  from  them  have  decreased  2d  per  cent. 

In  cotton  cloths,  merely,  we  exported  to  the  above  named 
countries,  in  1 859— 60— G l ,  354,182.255  yards,  at  an  estimated 
value  of  £18,093,553.  In  1860-67-68,  we  exported  51-1,720,336 
yards,  at  an  estimated  value  of  £34,254,416,  showing  an  in¬ 
crease  in  quantity  of  45  per  cent.,  and  in  value  of  90  per  cent. 

Our  exports  in  cotton  goods  having  greatly  increased,  and  our 
imports  having  largely  decreased,  ther.e  ought  now  to  be  a  very 
heavy  demand  for  this  class  of  goods,  and  our  cotton  factories 
ought  to  be  in  full  operation,  llow  comes  it  that  such  is  not 
the  case,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  cotton  operations  in  many 
localities  are  only  working  half-time,  and  that  cotton  mills  are 
being  locked  up,  and  sold  for  one- third  their  cost?  The  answer 


THE  DEPRESSION  OF  THE  COTTON  INDUSTRY.  55 


is,  because,  notwithstanding  our  improved  foreign  trade  and  our 
lessened  imports,  there  is  a  falling  off  in  the  home  consumption 
to  an  extent  which  fully  accounts  for  the  depression. 

The  quantity  of  cleaned  cotton  taken  for  goods  exported  ex¬ 
ceeds  in  18G6-67-G8,  by  21,7G3,000  fibs.,  at  an  estimated  value  of 
£42,695,000,  the  quantity  taken  in  1859-60-G1 ;  but  looking  at 
the  home  consumption,  we  find  a  decrease  of  211,933,000  fibs.,  or 
35  per  cent.,  at  an  estimated  value  of  £3,466,000.  Now  how  are 
we  to  account  for  this  hilling  off?  Is  it  because  we  are  getting 
poorer  as  a  nation,  and  because  wages  are  low?  No !  But  it  is, 
as  Mr.  Iloyle  justly  remarks,  because  the  people  “  squander  their 
earnings  in  intoxicating  drinks.” 

During  the  years  1859-60-61,  the  money  spent  upon  intoxicat¬ 
ing  drinks  in  the  United  Kingdom  was  as  follows: 

1859  . £86,686,366. 

1860  .  79,541,290. 

1861  .  85,989,468. 


£252,217,124. 

For  the  three  years  ending  with  1868,  the  expenditure  upon 
intoxicating  drinks  in  the  United  Kingdom  was  as  follows  : 

1866  . £101,252,551. 

1867  .  99,900.502. 

1868  .  102,886,280. 

£304,039,333. 

Being  an  increase  upon  the  former  period  of  £51,822,209,  or 
£17,274,069  per  annum. 

Here  is  an  astounding  fact;  in  three  years  we  spent  on  intoxi¬ 
cating  drinks  £304,039,333,  and  yet,  upon  cotton  goods  our 
staple  production,  we  spent  only  £28,858,000. 

“Taking  the  population  of  the  United  Kingdom  at  thirty  mil¬ 
lions,  it  gives  for  each  man,  woman,  and  child,  for  the  three  years, 
£10  25.  6 d.  for  drink,  and  195.  6 d.  for  cotton  goods ;  or  taking 
the  year  1868,  we  get  £3  85.  7f d.  per  head  for  drink,  and  4s.  7 \d. 
for  cotton.  Taking  a  family  of  five  persons,  we  have  £1  35.  0£<Z. 
spent  on  cotton,  and  £17  35.  2%d.  on  intoxicating  liquor.” 

During  the  years  1866-67-68,  we  expended  in  poor  and  police 
rates  £37,108,827,  or  £8,000,000  more  than  the  entire  value  of 
our  home  consumption  of  cotton  goods  for  the  same  time. 

Still  more,  the  drinking  system  is  detrimental  to  the  interests 


56 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

of  manufacture  and  capital,  because  it  drains  the  country  of 
capital  that  might  be  usefully  expended  in  developing  our  own 

resources. 

To  make  up  for  the  wholesale  destruction  of  grain  in  the 
manufacture  of  intoxicating  liquor,  we  are  under  the  necessity 
of  importing  large  quantities  from  abroad.  In  18G7  we  imported 
into  the  United  Kingdom,  in  flour  and  grainj  65,500,000  cwts., 
at  an  estimated  value  of  £41,364,134;  and  in  186S,  66,750,000 
cwts.,  at  an  estimated  value  of  £39,000,000.  But  for  the  wanton 
destruction  of  grain,  amounting  in  1868  to  63,679,575  bushels,  a 
very  large  proportion  of  this  money  might  have  remained,  and 
have  been  employed  in  still  further  advancing  our  own  in¬ 
dustries.  If,  to  this  expenditure  upon  foreign  grain,  we  add  the 
sums  sent  away  for  the  purchase  of  foreign  wines  and  spirits, 
amounting  in  1868  to  £20,608,776  retail  value,  we  may  perceive 
the  reason  of  our  impoverishment.  The  money  received  into  the 
country  from  our  exports  is  not  nearly  an  equivalent  for  this 
copious  outpouring  of  the  national  wealth. 

It  is  the  tendency  of  the  liquor  traffic  to  increase  our  imports, 
and  by  paralyzing  our  home  industries  to  lessen  our  exports. 
Tflus  are  we  impoverished  both  ways.  If  the  money  sent  out  of 
the  country  for  goods  imported,  were  balanced  by  the  money 
returned  to  us  for  our  exports,  there  would  be  a  more  equal 
circulation  of  the  media  of  commerce,  and  this  would  redound 
to  the  benefit  both  of  ourselves  and  of  those  nations  with  whom 
we  have  commercial  transactions.  But  if,  through  the  wanton 
waste  of  our  own  resources,  we  are  compelled  to  send  away  large 
sums  of  money  for  commodities  we  should  not  otherwise  need, 
and  especially  if  we  are  unable  to  balance  this,  because  by 
paralyzing  home  industries  we  have  lessened  our  exports, — it  is 
quite  clear  that  other  nations  must  grow  richer  and  ourselves 
poorer. 

The  total  value  from  our  imports ,  Foreign  and  Colonial, 
exclusive  of  bullion,  for  1867,  was  £275,183,137 ;  for  1868, 
£294,683,608.  So  we  sent  out  of  the  country  in  1868,  £19,500,47 1 
more  than  the  year  before. 

The  total  value  of  our  exports  for  1867  was  £225,802,529;  for 
1868,  £227,778,454.  So  that  in  1868  our  returns  from  abroad 
merely  exceeded  the  returns  for  1867,  by  £1,975,924,  leaving  us 
to  the  bad  in  1868,  £17,524,547,  and  that  amount  poorer  to  begin 
the  year  1869. 


DRAINS  TIIE  COUNTRY  OF  CAPITAL. 


57 


Now,  if  we  deduct  from  our  imports  foreign  wines  and  spirits, 
and  the  grain  imported  to  replace  that  destroyed  in  making  beer 
and  spirits,  the  balance  would  be  turned  in  our  favor,  and 
instead  of  being  £17,524,547  to  the  bad,  we  should  have  been  at 
least,  £19,000,000  on  the  right  side  of  the  balance  sheet.*  But 
if  the  liquor  traffic  was  suppressed,  would  the  money  now 
wasted  in  upholding  it  be  actually  expended  in  sustaining  and 
developing  our  other  great  industries?  A  very  large  proportion 
of  it  certainly  would,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  three-fourths. 

Y/hen  the  distilleries  were  stopped  in  Ireland  in  1809-10-13-14, 
in  consequence  of  the  scarcity  of  grain,  trade  greatly  improved, 
while  during  the  years  of  plenty  succeeding,  the  distilleries  being 
allowed  to  recommence  operations,  trade  considerably  declined. 

Dr.  Lees  says  :  “On  reference  to  the  tables  of  importsf  into 
Ireland,  and  a  comparison  of  the  years  of  the  stoppage  of  the 
distilleries,  and  the  consequent  comparative  sobriety  of  the 
nation,  with  the  years  when  they  were  in  full  activity,  destroy¬ 
ing  food  and  demoralizing  the  people,  we  arrive  at  the  startling 
anomaly,  that  a  year  of  scarcity,  with  prohibition,  is  better  than 
a  year  of  plenty  without  it!  The  years  1809—10  and  1813-14 
were  seasons  of  scarcity,  and  the  distilleries  were  stopped.  The 
average  consumption  of  spirits  in  the  years  1811-12  and  1815-17 
[years  of  plenty  and  distillation]  was  74  millions  of  gallons:  on 
the  other  years  [1809—10  and  1813—14]  not  quite  41.  But  mark 
how  the  saved  34  millions  reappear  in  the  form  of  an  increase  of 
the  following  articles  of  comfort,  which  bespeak  not  simply  the 

*  During  the  twenty-seven  years  ending  1S57,  our  exports  vastly  exceeded 
our  imports.  Hence  the  rapid  rise  of  England,  and  her  unrivalled  pros¬ 
perity  during  that  period.  But  now,  our  imports  vastly  exceed  our  exports. 
Hence  our  gradual,  but  certain  impoverishment.  The  following  gives  the  value 
of  our  exports  and  imports  during  a  series  of  years  dating  from  1831  to  1857. 


EXPORTS. 

IMPORTS. 

1831  ..... 
1810  .... 
1850  ..... 

.  110,198,710 . 

1857  ..... 

t  Table  of  Irish  Imports. — Extracted  and  arranged  from  returns  made  to 
Parliament.  1822.  (See  the  4th  and  5th  Reports  of  Commissioners  of  Inquiry.) 


Famine  Years  18: >9-10-13-14. 

Habe  rd  a  s  h  e  ry .  £1 40,930 

Drapery  (New  and  Old)..  3.778.514 
Iron,  Hardware,  and  Pots  £407,7t»9 


Blankets .  00,004 

Cotton  Goods...'. .  £197  198 

Black  Tea . 3,510,043 

Muscovado  Sugar .  331,278 


Years  of  Plenty. 

1811-12- 

•15-17. 

Value... 

.  £110,936  ... 

£30.000  decrease. 

Yards ... 

.  2,422.414  ... 

1 .350.070 

tt 

Value  ... 

.  £337,158  ... 

£129.(551 

it 

Number 

20.003  ... 

33.401 

U 

Value ... 

.  £104.198  ... 

£93,1  00 

M 

Pounds. 

.  3,189,132  ... 

341.511 

«< 

Cvvts . 

.  300,954  ... 

4,324 

a 

58 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


absence  of  a  great  curse,  but  the  presence  of  domestic  and 
personal  happiness,  and  of  a  thriving  trade.” — Prize  Essay  on 
the  Liquor  Traffic,  pp.  127,  128. 

In  tli e  days  of  Father  Mathew,  a  great  revival  in  the  woollen 
and  other  trades  took  place,  consequent  upon  a  large  decrease  in 
the  consumption  of  intoxicating  liquor. 

“  A  gentleman  connected  with  one  of  the  most  extensive 
manufacturing  firms  in  Lancashire,  stated  a  year  or  two  ago, 
(about  1844)  that,  since  the  great  success  of  Father  Mathew, 
their  trade  with  Ireland  had  increased  one  hundred  per  cent.! 
The  trade  between  Rochdale  and  Ireland  is  said  to  have  trebled 
in  the  course  of  about  three  years, — where  the  people  of  that  town 
manufactured  100  bales  of  goods  for  Ireland  in  1839  or  1810,  they 
manufactured  300  in  1844.  And  this  merely  from  the  proper 
expenditure  of  the  pittances  doled  out  in  the  form  of  Irish 
wages.” 

Some  time  previous  to  Father  Mathew’s  visit  to  "Waterford 
(population  23,000),  the  Corporation  examined  the  houses  of  the 
poor  and  working-classes,  and  estimated  the  value  of  all  their 
household  and  other  property  at  £100,000.  Shortly  after  this 
the  apostle  of  temperance  pledged  60,000  persons  of  fhe  city  and 
neighborhood  to  the  practice  of  total  abstinence;  and  at  the 
next  examination  made  by  the  Corporation  (only  two  years  after) 
the  estimated  value  of  goods  in  possession  of  the  same  classes  as 
before,  was  £200,000,  the  trade  of  Waterford  being  doubled. 

We  may  well  believe  that  if  the  liquor  traffic  was  swept  away, 
three-fourths  of  the  money  now  expended  upon  it  would  at  once 
be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  useful  and  necessary  articles. 
The  one-fourth,  amounting  to  £25,721,670,  would  be  put  by  as 
reserved  wealth,  and  as  people  now-a-days  don’t  like  to  keep  a 
long  stocking  in  the  house,  the  money  would  be  deposited  in  our 
different  banks.  This  vast  sum,  in  the  hands  of  our  bankers, 
would  receive  profitable  investment,  and  the  great  banking 
interest  would  greatly  improve;  indeed,  we  should  require  far 
more  establishments  of  this  kind  than  we  have  at  present,  and  a 
larger  number  of  clerks  and  messengers  would  find  employment. 

Of  the  other  three-fourths,  amounting  .to  £77,165,010,  one- 
tenth,  or  £7,716,501,  would,  perhaps,  be  invested  in  Building 
Societies,  and  we  should  soon  see  a  visible  improvement  in  the 
homes  of  the  working  classes ,  and  a  great  many  of  them  would 
surely  oceupy  their  own  cottages. 


IF  REMOVED,  BUSINESS  WOULD  REVIVE. 


59 


.  One-sixth,  or  £12,860,835,  would  most  probably  be  expended 
upon  farm  produce,  so  that  not  only  would  farmers  be  enabled  to 
dispose  of  the  54,000,000  bushels  of  barley  now  disposed  of  to 
the  brewers  and  distillers,  but  a  great  deal  more,  though  of 
course  in  a  different  form.  We  should  have  it  in  the  form  of 
wheat,  beef,  mutton,  poultry,  eggs,  butter,  and  bacon.  In  fact, 
there  would  be  an  unprecedented  demand  for  farm  produce  of  all 
kinds,  which  farmers  would  be  able  to  dispose  of  at  a  profitable 
price.  This  would  necessitate  the  cultivation  of  a  larger  acreage 
of  land,  and  consequently  a  reform  of  the  Land  laws,  by  which 
a  large  portion  of  the  12,000,000  acres  of  reclaimable  land  now 
allowed  to  run  barren,  would  be  brought  under  cultivation  ;  it 
would  also  lead  to  the  utilization  of  our  sewage,  now  allowed  to 
be  wasted,  and  to  the  breeding  of  a  larger  number  of  farm  stock 
of  all  kinds.  The  forty  thousand  acres  of  rich  land  at  present 
devoted  to  the  growth  of  hops  would  be  made  to  wave  with 
golden  corn  ;  a  larger  number  of  farm  laborers  would  find  em¬ 
ployment,  and  they  would  get  less  drink  but  more  money  for 
their  work  ;  thus  would  the  great  agricultural  industry  receive 
a  grand  impetus. 

One-eighth,  or  £9,645,62G,  would  doubtless  be  expended  upon 
cotton.  This  great  industry  would  revive,  mills  now  silent 
would  again  send  forth  the  pleasant  sound  of  working  looms,  and 
cotton  operatives  would  receive  full  employment.  Says  Mr. 
Hoyle,  “  £10,000,000  of  it  applied  to  purchasing  cotton  goods 
would  at  once  more  than  double  our  home  trade,  and  place  us  in 
such  a  position  as  would  banish  all  complaints  of  bad  trade.” 

One-tenth,  or  £7,716,501,  would  likely  be  expended  upon 
woollen  goods,  increasing  our  woollen  imports,  multiplying  our 
woollen  manufactories,  and  finding  employment  for  a  larger 
number  of  woollen  workers. 

One-eighth,  or  £9,645,626,  would  likely  be  spent  in  tea,  coffee, 
spices,  and  general  groceries,  increasing  our  imports  and  replen¬ 
ishing  the  coffers  of  the  exchequer  without  demoralizing  the 
people. 

One-tenth,  or  £7,716,501,  would  likely  be  expended  upon  silks 
and  fancy  articles, — as  watches,  jewelry,  and  ornaments  of 
various  kinds,  and  as  we  should  import  a  large  quantity  of  this 
class  of  goods  from  France  and  Germany,  it  would  repay  them 
for  our  refusal  of  their  ivines,  etc. 

One-tenth,  or  £7,716,501,  would  doubtless  be  expended  upon 


60 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


boots  and  shoes,  and  that  department  of  industry  would  greatly 
revive;  and  as  we  import  large  quantities  of  the  raw  material, 
as  hides,  from  Russia,  our  commercial  relations  with  that  country 
would  greatly  improve. 

One-tenth,  or  £7,716,501,  would  doubtless  be  expended  in 
furniture,  hardware,  and  upholstery,  and  as  a  great  deal  of  the 
raw  material  required  here,  as  timber,  etc.,  comes  from  Scandi¬ 
navia,  Canada,  South  America,  India,  our  commerce  with  these 
countries  would  improve,  and  they  in  return  would  be  able  to 
take  more  of  our  own  manufactured  articles.  Of  the  remainder, 
£4,502,293,  would  doubtless  be  expended  upon  glass,  china-ware, 
and  musical  instruments,  so  that  these  branches  would  greatly 
improve. 

And  the  balance,  £1,929,135,  would  likely  be  expended  upon 
books,  prints,  and  painting,  giving  greater  encouragement  to  art 
and  literature,  and  improving  trade  in  the  manufacture  of  paper 
and  printing. 

Now  the  £102,886,280  being  thus  laid  out,  we  should  require 
more  ships  on  the  sea,  to  convey  to  us  raw  material  from  abroad, 
and  to  bear  away  from  our  own  shores  our  manufactured  goods. 
This  then  would  improve  the  shipbuilding  trade,  and  find  abun¬ 
dance  of  employment  for  all  our  sailors. 

Then,  too,  both  goods  and  passenger  traffic  would  greatly 
increase  on  all  our  railways,  and  shareholders  would  receive 
larger  profits  upon  their  shares,  many  of  which  at  present,  upon 
some  of  our  lines,  are  worthless. 

AVe  should  also  require  a  larger  number  of  retail  dealers,  as 
media  of  distribution  to  the  public,  at  least  one  to  every  £3,060 
expended ;  this  then  would  give  12,000  persons  as  shopkeepers 
to  distribute  the  products  of  manufacture  and  agriculture  to  the 
consumer,  and  computing  that  three  persons  would  be  engaged 
in  each  establishment,  this  would  find  a  total  of  60,000  persons 
with  employment.  In  the  drapery  and  boot  and  shoe  depart¬ 
ment  we  should  require  at  least  one  tailor,  one  shoemaker,  and 
one  dressmaker  for  every  £5,000  worth  of  goods  sold.  Thus  we 
should  require  about  6,200  of  each  class  over  and  above  those 
now  employed.  A  larger  number  of  sewing  machines  would  be 
needed,  thus  extending  that  industry.  AVhen  we  also  remember, 
that  where  the  manufacture  of  intoxicating  liquor  employs  one 
laborer,  the  manufacture  of  other  commodities  employs  seven¬ 
teen,  there  would  be  plenty  of  work  both  for  those  now  destitute 


61 


INFLICTS  LOSS  AND  DISASTER. 

of  employment,  and  also  for  those  at  present  engaged  in  the 
traffic,  many  of  whom  would  be  able  to  convert  their  drink-shops 
into  grocery  stores  and  drapery  establishments,  and  utilize  much 
of  their  capital. 

Under  these  conditions,  pauperism  would  be  almost  nil,  and 
crimes  rarely  occur ^  two-thirds  of  our  present  enormous  local 
taxation  would  be  returned  into  the  pockets  of  the  rate-payers, 
still  further  enriching  them  ;  and  thus  smiling  plenty  would 
take  the  place  of  dearth  and  penury,  and  sweet  contentment,  of 
discord  and  wild  uproar.  Sickness  also  and  disease  would  greatly 
diminish,  especially  among  the  working-classes,  so  that  they 
would  be  able  to  establish  Benefit  Clubs  upon  a  more  satisfactory 
basis  than  at  present,  and  indeed  these  societies  might  be  so 
regulated  as  to  enable  every  working-man,  on  attaining  his 
sixtieth  year,  to  cease  from  labor,  and  to  spend  the  remainder 
of  his  days  in  ease  and  plenty. 

VI. —  The  Drinking  System  as  the  occasion  of  loss  and  disaster.  * 

We  have  already  referred  to  this  incidentally  in  our  last  sec¬ 
tion,  we  now  bring  it  more  particularly  before  our  readers. 

(1.)  There  is  the  loss  of  productive  labor  to  the  extent  of  at 
least  one  day  in  six,  owing  to  the  drunkenness  of  the  working- 
classes.  On  Professor  Levi’s  estimate  of  the  earnings  of  this 
class  being  £418,000,000,  the  actual  loss  sustained  from  this 
cause  alone  will  amount  to  £69,000,000. 

Then  this  represents  a  very  heavy  loss  to  the  manufacturer, 
according  to  the  Parliamentary  Report  for  1834,  of  one  million 
out  of  every  six  produced.  Mr.  Levi  computes  the  income  of  the 
higher  classes  (land-owners,  manufacturers,  and  merchants)  at 
£464,000,000.  Now  allowing  one-half  of  this  only  as  the  amount 
realized  by  our  manufacturers  and  merchants,  this  sum  repre¬ 
sents  but  live-sixths  of  what  they  would  realize  were  it  not  for 
the  drunkenness  of  the  employes,  so  that  this  loss  may  be  put 
down  at  £43,670,000,  or  a  total  for  both  classes  of  £112,670,000.* 

(2.)  There  is  the  loss  of  property  both  by  sea  and  land. 

Most  of  the  casualties  occurring  every  day  are  occasioned  by 
intemperance.  Fires,  breakage  of  machinery,  shipwrecks,  etc. 
The  report  of  the  Manchester  Watch  Committee  states  that 
twenty  fires  took  place  in  that  town  last  year  through  intem¬ 
perance.  In  the  Minority  Report  of  the  Parliamentary  Com- 

*  This  approximates,  very  remarkably,  to  the  calculation  of  Dr.  Lees,  in 
his  Text-Book,  of  Temperance,  founded  purely  on  physiological  grounds. 


62 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


mittee  upon  Mr.  Smith’s  Sale  of  Liquors  on  Sunday  Bill,  we  find 
the  following: — ‘‘(5,463)  Rev.  G.  M.  Murphy Before  I  came 
to  London,  I  was  associated  with  the  large  firm  of  Fox  and  Hen¬ 
derson,  at  Birmingham.  Sir  Charles  Fox  has  stated  (and  it 
quite  bears  out  my  own  views)  that  the  large  majority  of  acci¬ 
dents  in  connection  with  their  extensive  works  occurred  on  the 
Monday,  and  were  the  results  of  unsteadiness  occasioned  by  the 
Sunday’s  drinking.  I  had  an  opportunity  of  asking  Sir  Charles 
Fox,  within  the  last  fortnight,  as  to  whether  he  still  coincided 
with  that  opinion,  and  he  said  that  he  did;  and  that  he  should 
be  quite  willing  to  ratify  anything  that  he  had  said  upon  that 
subject.” 

The  annual  value  of  shipping  destroyed  at  sea  by  wreck  and 
fire,  must  be  estimated  at  millions,  of  which  a  very  large  pro¬ 
portion  is  chargeable  upon  the  drinking  system. 

Mr.  John  Simpson,  an  insurance  broker  and  merchant,  of 
London,  savs : — ‘‘I  have  been  in  the  house  that  I  am  the  head 
of  now,  for  thirty-five  years,  and  in  the  habit  of  covering  a  million 
and  a  half  sterling  per  annum  of  property  floating  upon  the 
water,  and  generally  in  the  whole  of  that  time  it  has  been  most 
lamentable  to -see  the  great  destruction  of  property,  in  a  vast 
number  of  instances  notoriously  owing  to  drunkenness.” 

Captain  Edward  Pelham  Brenton,  R.  N.,  when  examined 
before  the  Parliamentary  Committee  of  1834,  stated  that  for 
forty-six  years  he  had  been  acquainted  with  seamen,  and  had 
observed  their  prevailing  habits  to  be  that  of  intemperance. 
During  the  late  wav,  almost  every  accident  he  ever  witnessed  on 
board  ship  was  owing  to  drunkenness.  This  was  the  cause  of  the 
burning  of  the  ‘‘George”  of  98  guns,  in  1759,  with  550  of 
her  crew;  and  of  the  “Ajax”  of  74  guns,  in  1806,  with  350  of  her 
crew,  lie  named  also  the  burning  of  the  “  Kent,”  East  Indiaman, 
and  of  the  “  Edgar”  of  70  guns,  owing  to  spirits  being  on  board, 
adding,  “  I  hold  spirituous  liquors  to  be  more  dangerous  than 
gunpowder.” 

If  the  mighty  deep  could  but  speak,  what  revelations  should  we 
have  of  ships  sunk  through  intemperance  in  mid-ocean,  or  dashed 
to  pieces  upon  the  rocks  of  some  bleak  and  inhospitable  coast, 
and  of  whole  crews  sent  drunk  beneath  the  waves! 

(3.)  The  loss  sustained  to  the  Revenue,  t»wing  to  the  ineffi¬ 
ciency  of  the  army  and  navy  from  intemperance.  Says  the 
Parliamentary  Report  of  1834: — “The  comparative  ineffi- 


CAUSE  OF  INEFFICIENCY  IN  ARMY  AND  NAVY.  63 


cjency  of  tiie  army  and  navy,  in  each  of  which  intemperance 
is  a  canker-worm  that  eats  away  its  strength  and  its  discip line 
to  the  very  core  5  it  being  proved  that  one-sixth  of  the  effective 
strength  of  the  navy,  and  a  much  greater  proportion  of  tiie 
army,  is  as  much  destroyed  by  that  most  powerful  ally  of  death, 
intoxicating  drinks,  as  if  the  men  were  slain  in  battle  ;  and  that 
the  greatest  number  of  accidents,  seven  eighths  of  the  sickness, 
invaliding,  and  discharges  for  incapacity,  and  nine-tenths  of  all 
the  acts  of  insubordination,  and  the  fearful  punishments  and 
executions  to  which  these  give  rise,  are  to  be  ascribed  to  drunken¬ 
ness  alone.”* 

We  are  thus  under  the  necessity  of  employing  in  the  two  ser¬ 
vices  one-sixth  more  men  than  we  should  otherwise  require, 
besides  the  extra  expenditure  from  invaliding,  imprisonments, 
and  new  enlistments.  If  then,  drinking  were  abolished  in  the 
army  and  navy,  we  should  require  only  five-sixths  of  our  present 
force,  and  yet  have  a  more  efficient  service,  which  would  be 
equivalent  to  a  reduction  in  army  and  naval  expenses  of  one- 
tenth.  Then,  instead  of  employing  129,120  soldiers  at  a  cost  to 
the  nation  of  £14,213,400  per  annum,  and  63,300  sailors,  in¬ 
cluding  marines  and  boys,  at  a  cost  of  £9,996,G41,  we  should 
need  only  107,605  soldiers  and  52,750  sailors,  at  a  saving  to  the 
nation  of  £2,422,704.  AVe  must  remember  that  the  members  of 
neither  service  are  producers,  though  taken  for  the  most  part 
from  the  producing  class.  They  are  consumers  only,  therefore,  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  men  engaged  and  drawn  from  the 
factory  and  the  plough,  so  must  be  the  injury  to  our  trade  and 
national  progress;  and  we  must  consider  that  the  men  selected 
for  the  army  and  navy  are  picked  men;  men  of  fine  build  and 
great  physical  strength  ;  so  that  not  only  does  the  producing 
class  suffer  numerically,  but  also  in  efficiency,  while  the  pro¬ 
ducers  have  to  keep  all  the  rest. 

YU. — The  Drinking  System  as  obstructive  of  Intellectual  and 
Religious  Progress. 

(1.)  It  obstructs  education.  Children  are  generally  kept 
away  from  school,  not  because  their  parents  are  poor,  but  because 
they  are  profligate  and  drunken.  The  money  that  ought  to  go 
toward  decently  clothing  and  schooling  the  children,  is  recklessly 

*  Besides  this,  is  the  disease  and  waste  of  power  arising  from  the  grog 
rations,  still  strangely  given,  in  the  face  of  the  plainest  facts  demonstrating 
their  injury. 


64 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


spent  upon  intoxicating  liquor.  Even  where  free-schools  abound, 
the  children  of  drunken  parents  are  unable  to  attend  for  the  want 
of  decent  clothing.  And  then,  again,  those  children  of  intem¬ 
perate  parents  who  do  get  to  school,  receive  only  a  very  imperfect 
education,  as  they  are  taken  away  to  work  at  a  very  early  age,  to 
provide  their  unnatural  parents  with  the  means  of  still  further 
gratifying  their  appetite  for  gin. 

The  Educational  question  is  now  making  a  great  stir  in  our 
country.  At  present  there  are  two  great  schemes  before  us. 
The  one,  advocated  by  the  Manchester  Union,  proposes  to  still 
further  expand  and  extend  our  present  system,  and  to  render 
education  indirectly  compulsory  by jneans  of  Factory  Acts,  etc. 
The  other,  projected  by  the  Birmingham  League,  proposes,  with¬ 
out  sweeping  away  our  present  denominational  schools,  to 
establish  a  grand  national  system,  which  shall  at  once  be  secu¬ 
lar,  directly  compulsory,  and  free. 

Though  we  are  fully  alive  to  the  importance  of  establishing  an 
efficient  system  of  education,  by  which  the  present  prevailing 
ignorance  may  be  driven  away,  and  the  young  and  rising  genera¬ 
tion  receive  that  intellectual  culture  denied  to  their  forefathers, 
we  are  bold  to  maintain  that  whatever  system  be  adopted,  can  only 
very  partially  succeed,  if  intemperance  be  allowed  to  continue. 

The  best  educated  States  in  America  are  the  New  England 
States,  and  in  five  of  them  the  liquor  traffic  is  outlawed,  and  in¬ 
temperance  is  of  rare  occurrence ;  but  where  it  does  obtain,  its 
legitimate  fruit  in  retarding  education  is  at  once  seen.  To  coun¬ 
teract  this  as  much  as  possible,  benevolent  persons  are  under 
the  necessity  of  providing  the  drunkard’s  children  with  suitable 
clothing. 

At  a  public  breakfast  to  the  Hon.  S.  F.  Cary,  ex-Senator  for 
Ohio,  U.S.,  held  at  the  Central  Exchange  Hotel,  Grey  Street,  New-- 
eastle-on-Tyne,  December  15th,  1869,  he  remarked,  that  “The 
drinking  customs  of  the  people  operated  prejudicially  in  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  education.  Many  persons  were  in  consequence  unable 
to  clothe  their  children  properly,  so  that  they  might  attend 
school ;  and  one  of  the  efforts  of  their  philanthropists,  and  the 
friends  of  education  in  his  country,  was  to  take  care  that  such 
children  were  provided  with  suitable  clothing.  Certainly  intem¬ 
perance  tended  very  largely  to  keep  children  away  from  school.” 

Even  if  we  could  secure  the  attendance  at  school  of  these  poor 
ragged  outcasts,  education  for  the  most  part  would  be  lost  upon 


OBSTRUCTS  EDUCATION  AND  RELIGION. 


65 


them.  The  poverty  of  their  homes,  the  drunkenness  of  their 
parents,  and  the  starvation  and  ill-treatment  through  which  they 
are  called  to  pass,  would  almost  entirely  neutralize  their  every¬ 
day  tuition  at  school,  and  with  very  few  exceptions  they  would 
grow  up,  if  not  quite  so  ignorant,  yet  as  depraved  as  ever. 

The  drinking  system  also  obstructs  self-education  and  improve¬ 
ment  when  school  days  are  over,  and  our  youth  are  sent  forth  to 
act  their  part  on  the  grand  field  of  labor. 

At  present,  the  public-house  and  beer-shop  are  the  only  educa¬ 
tional  establishments  frequented  by  large  numbers  of  our  young 
men,  and  in  these  places  they  are  schooled  in  vice  and  drunken¬ 
ness.  The  mechanics’  institute,  the  evening  school,  and  the  lit¬ 
erary  entertainment  and  lecture  are  neglected.  The  consequence 
is,  the  little  education  obtained  at  school  is  soon  lost,  or  rendered 
valueless,  not  being  used  as  a  foundation  upon  which  to  build 
knowledge  of  a  higher  and  more  enduring  kind. 

(2.)  The  drinking  system  obstructs  the  religious  advancement 
of  the  people. 

AVe  stud  our  land  with  churches  and  chapels;  we  employ 
thousands  of  clergymen  to  preach  to  the  people,  and  hundreds  of 
missionaries  to  visit  them  at  their  homes ;  thousands  of  tracts 
and  Bibles  are  distributed  to  them  gratuitously  every  year,  and 
thousands  of  Sunday-schools  are  established  for  the  religious 
education  of  the  young,  yet  notwithstanding  all  these  appliances, 
licentiousness  and  ungodliness  abound  in  our  midst,  and  the 
nobicst  aspirations  of  humanity  receive  some  mysterious  check, 
and  instead  of  finding  expression  in  a  pure  and  godlike  life,  they 
are  kept  under,  and  vice  and  drunkenness  are  pursued.  Now 
how  are  we  to  account  for  this  sad  state  of  things?  It  is  because 
the  ministers  of  religion  and  morality  are  opposed  by  the  minis¬ 
ters  of  vice  and  immorality,  and  buildings  dedicated  to  the 
worship  of  God  are  opposed,  and  vastly  outnumbered,  by  temples 
set  apart  to  the  worship  of  Bacchus. 

The  drinking  system  at  once  incapacitates  people  for  hearing 
aright  tfte  gospel  message,  engenders  a  disinclination  to  attend  a 
place  of  worship,  and  is  also  a  fertile  cause  of  religious  declension. 

■  Thg-nffin  or  woman  stupefiedTv^rink~Ts  hot'mXfit  stately 
hear  God  s  miissaue  ;  whilst  the  loss  of  self-respect,  and  the 
poverty  winch  intemperance  brings,  prevent  people,  during  their 
lucidjand  sober  moments,  from  attending  public  worship.  They 
soon  begin  to  regard  themselves  as  a  Pariah  class,  and  shun  all 
6* 


66 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


places  to  which  sober,  well-behaved,  and  well-dressed  people 
resort.  Hence,  too,  the  day  set  apart  for  rest  and  spiritual  im¬ 
provement  is  spent  in  wild  excesses  and  disgusting  orgies,  such 
as  would  disgrace  even  a  pagan,  let  alone  a  Christian  nation. 

Drink  is  also  a  sad  cause  of  declension  on  the  part  of  many 
who  once  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  religion.  Ministers,  learned, 
pious,  and  eloquent,  have  fallen  through  it.  I  am  acquainted 
with  two  men,  once  ministers  of  the  Wesleyan  Church,  and  ex¬ 
ceedingly  popular  on  account  of  their  undoubted  ability  and 
eloquence,  who  fell  deeply  through  this  agent.  One  of  them, 
after  years  wasted  in  wild  excess  and  debauchery,  frequently 
lying  out  all  night  under  hedges,  1ms  since  become  a  teetotaler, 
and,  in  an  humbler  sphere  of  life,  is  again  doing  his  Master’s 
work.  The  other  has  become  hardened  by  a  long  course  of 
sensuality  and  criiiier-and,  at  present,  there  appears  no  hope 
whatever  of  his  reclamation. 

Members  of  Christian  Churches,  including  local  preachers, 
deacons,  and  Sunday-school  teachers,  have  fallen  through  it,  and 
have  become  poor,  lost,  wandering  sheep,  straying  far  away,  amid 
vice,  sorrow,  and  shame,  from  the  fold  in  which  they  had  been 
spiritually  reared.  There  is  not,  in  fact,  a  single  denomination, 
that  does  not  suffer  largely  from  this  cause.  The  Rev.  W.  Caine, 
M.  A..,  stated  before  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science  (1869),  that  u  out  of  724  Protestant  prisoners  in  the 
County  Gaol  at  Manchester,  81  had  been  Sunday-school  teachers 
for  longer  or  shorter  periods,  and  nine  out  of  ten  of  them  were 
Sunday  scholars;  and  amongst  the  prisoners  were  sons  of 
clergymen  and  dissenting  ministers.”  lie  attributes  the  larger 
proportion  of  these  cases  to  drink,  and  the  want  of  good  parental 
example. 

The  drink  system  is  no  less  obstructive  to  missionary  opera¬ 
tions  abroad.  Missionary  Societies  are  the  glory  of  the  age  in 
which  we  live,  and  one  of  its  most  striking  characteristics,  and 
we  cannot  also  but  greatly  admire  those  noble  self-denying  men, 
who,  spurning  fatigue  and  hardships,  and  fearless  of  danger, 
forsake  homo,  country,  and  kindred,  in  order  to  carry  into  remote 
and  barbarous  climes  the  blessings  of  civilization  and  Chris¬ 
tianity.  But,  alas!  here  we  find  cause  for  sad  reflection  and  tears. 
The  ship  which  carries  the  missionary  to  his  field  of  toil  and 
danger,  also,  alas!  carries  with  it  an  agent  that  shall  prove  more 
deadly,  destructive,  and  debasing  to  the  savage  than  even  their 


A  FOE  TO  MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS, 


67 


senseless  idolatry — that  agent  is  fire-water.  Thus  do  we  more 
than  undo  all  that  the  missionary  accomplishes.  We  carry  to  the 
heathen  the  gospel  in  the  right-hand,  and  the  whisky  bottle  in 
the  left,  and  to  every  convert  made  to  the  former  a  thousand  are 
made  to  the  latter.  When  w’e  mark  how  Europeans  have  con¬ 
taminated  the  natives  of  the  Pacific  Islands — of  the  American 
Wilds,  and  even  of  India,  with  the  abominable  vices  and  loath¬ 
some  diseases  of  Britain — wre  may  surmise,  that  had  we  never 
touched  their  shores,  but  left  them  entirely  to  their  ignorance 
and  their  idols,  they  would  not  have  been  in  a  worse  condition 
than  they  are  now.  Indeed,  how  can  we  expect  them  to  receive 
readily  the  gospel  at  our  hands,  wrhen  they  know  that  day  by 
day  we  are  inflicting  upon  them  disease  and  misery. 

Speaking  ot  this  Fire-Water,  William  W.  Smith,  of  Owen 
Sound,  Upper  Canada,  says: — ‘‘  Indians — men  that  I  love  and 
value  as  brethren — have  told  me  with  low  and  melancholy  voices, 
of  the  devastation  of  this  thing.  A  friend,  a  few  weeks  ago,  told 
me  of  an  effort  he  once  made  to  induce  a  chief  of  a  tribe  of  the 
Mohawk  nation  to  allow  a  friend  of  his,  a  missionary,  to  come 
and  dwell  among  them.  ‘What  you  preach?  Preach  Christ?’ 
‘Yes.’  ‘Don’t  want  Christ!  No  Christ!’  My  friend  perse¬ 
vered.  At  length  the  chief  got  warm,  and  towering  to  his  full 
height,  with  a  volcanic  fire  in  his  eye,  broke  out — ‘Once  we 
were  powerful;  we  were  a  great  nation;  our  young  men  were 
many;  our  lodges  were  full  of  children;  our  enemies  feared  us; 
but  Christ  came  and  brought  the  fire-water!  Now  we  are 

X 

very  poor;  we  are  weak;  nobody  fears  us;  our  lodges  are 
empty;  our  hunting  grounds  are  deserted;  our  council  fires  are 
gone  out;  we  don’t  want  Christ!  Go!”’  Thus  is  the  name 
of  Christ  reproached  among  the  heathen  on  account  of  the  prac¬ 
tices  and  vices  of  those  professing  to  be  His  disciples. 

Archdeacon  Jeffreys,  with  thirty-one  years  of  Indian  experi¬ 
ence,  informs  us  that  among  the  converts  to  Christianity  in 
India,  many  had  fallen  through  strong  drink ;  for,  says  he, 
“  When  once  the  natives  break  cast  and  become  Christians,  they 
were  no  longer  restrained  from  the  use  of  strong  drinks,  and 
they  became  far  worse  than  if  they  had  never  embraced  Chris¬ 
tianity.  For  one  really  c  nverted  to  Christianity,  as  the  fruit  of 
missionary  labor,  the  drinking  practices  of  the  English  had  made 
one  thousand  DRUNKARis!”  We  are  further  informed  that  in 
some  parts  of  Ilindostan  the  name  Christian  and  drunkard  are 


68 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


synonymous,  and  that,  when  a  drunken  man  is  seen  reeling 
along  the  streets,  they  say,  “  See!  there  goes  a  Christian!” 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Ellis  gives  this  testimony: — “  Since  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  Christianity  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  by  the  mission¬ 
aries,  there  is  no  means  which  the  enemies  of  morals  and  religion 
have  employed  more  extensively  and  perseveringly  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  counteracting  the  influence  of  Christian  instruction,  and 
corrupting  and  degrading  the  people,  than  the  importation  of 
spirituous  liquors  ;  and  no  means  of  evil  have  been  employed 
with  more  injurious  effects/’ 

The  Rev.  John  Williams  said: — “In  my  absence,  a  trading 
captain  brought  a  small  cask  of  spirits  ashore,  and  sold  it  to  the 
natives.  This  revived  their  dormant  appetite,  and  like  pent  up 
waters  the  disposition  burst  forth,  and,  with  the  impetuosity  of 
the  resistless  torrent,  carried  the  people  before  it,  so  that  they 
appeared  maddened  with  infatuation.” 

These  sad  testimonies  might  be  greatly  multiplied,  but  what 
need  of  further  witnesses?  Clearly,  the  work  of  evangelizing 
our  people  at  home,  and  of  Christianizing  the  heathen  abroad,  is 
hindered  and  counteracted  by  the  drinking  system.  Yet  what 
attitude  has  the  Church  of  Christ  taken  in  reference  to  it?  With 
sorrow,  be  it  said,  she  has  embraced  the  foul  monster,  identified 
herself  with  its  interests,  and,  at  the  same  time,  has  treated  with 
supercilious  contempt  the  temperance  enterprise,  spoken  of  it  in 
terms  of  disparagement  and  censure,  even  branding  it  as  being 
an  infidel  movement.  We  rejoice,  however,  that  violent,  open 
opposition  from  that  quarter  has  now  ceased,  and  that  thousands 
of  her  noblest  clergy  are  now  most  zealously  cooperating  with  us 
to  promote  the  success  of  the  temperance  movement. 

Had  the  Christian  Church,  in  all  its  different  denominations, 
done  so  from  the  commencement;  had  she,  at  the  origin  of  the 
movement,  made  it  a  great  religious  question  ;  had  she  then  put 
forth  all  her  power,  and  used  all  her  appliances  in  this  direction, 
we  should  not  now  have  been  weeping  over  the  wholesale  destruc¬ 
tion  and  debasement  of  our  people ;  nor  would  that  Church 
herself  have  had  to  deplore  her  empty  fanes  and  desolate  altars, 
and  the  increasing  indifference  of  the  people  to  receive  instruction 
at  the  hands  of  her  appointed  ministers.  Rut  “it  is  never  too 
late  to  mend.”  Let  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  all  her  different 
departments,  take  up  this  great  question,  and  identity  herself 
still  more  thoroughly  with  it — nailing  under  the  banner  of  the 


MAIN  CAUSE  OF  OUR  NATIONAL  CALAMITIES.  69 


cross  the  banner  of  teetotalism, — and  with  both  waving  above 
her,  she  will  march  onward  to  certain  victory  over  licentious¬ 
ness,  inebriety,  and  “the  legions  of  Sin.” 

All  the  evils  that  we  have  thus  depicted,  flow  from  the  drink¬ 
ing  system  of  the  nation,  including  the  use ,  the  manufacture , 
and  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor. 

If  these  liquors  were  not  made,  they  could  not  become  articles 
of  trade ;  if  they  were  not  sold,  they  would  not  be  consumed. 
Hen  ce  all  the  evils  flowing  from  the  consumption  of  them  is 
chargeable  upon  the  manufacture  and  sale.  But  more  directly 
are  they  associated  with  those  houses  established-  mainly  or  solely 
for  the  sale  of  these  pernicious  articles. 

Says  Dr.  Oliver  Goldsmith: — “I  never  saw  a  city,  or  village 
yet,  whose  miseries  were  not  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
its  public-houses.”  And  the  Church  Report,  on  Intemperance 
(1869),  fully  confirms  this  statement.  Hundreds  of  reliable 
witnesses  attest  that  drunkenness,  crime,  and  pauperism,  and 
the  houses  established  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor,  are 
inseparable.  This  applies  even  to  the  best  of  them.  Jn  fact,  a 
respectable  public  drinking-house  is  a  misnomer.  How  can 
respectability  be  attached  to  the  sale  of  so  pernicious  and 
destructive  an  article  as  intoxicating  liquor? 

•  Some  months  ago,  the  author  was  walking  through  the  beau¬ 
tiful  village  of  0 - ,  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  in  company 

with  a  farmer  who  had  resided  all  his  life  upon  a  farm  in  the 
neighborhood.  The  rural  scenery  around  was  very  beautiful, 
with  here  and  there  touches  of  the  romantic  ;  presently  we  came 
to  a  very  respectable  looking  public-house  by  the  roadside.  The 
landlady,  a  widow,  stood  at  the  door,  and  recognizing  my  com¬ 
panion,  nodded  to  him,  and  he  returned  the  salutation.  The 
landlady  wTas  a  fine,  portly  looking  dame,  with  black  silk  dress, 
and  gold  chain  hanging  down  to  the  waist,  and  altogether  in 
keeping  with  the  house.  I  remarked  to  my  companion,  “  That 
certainly  is  a  very  respectable  looking  public-house,  and  a  very 
courteous  and  respectable  landlady  too.”  My  companion  replied, 
“  You  are  quite  correct,  that  public-house  is  the  most  respectably 
conducted  house  in  this  neighborhood,  and  that  landlady  is  a  most 
respectable  woman  ;  but  I  wish  to  tell  you  something  about  that 
house.  Thirty  years  ago,  that  house  was  licensed  for  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquor,  and  year  after  year  that  license  has  been  re¬ 
newed.  Now,  during  those  thirty  years,  how  many  victims,  think 


70 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


you,  have  perished  in  consequence  of  the  drink  obtained  in  that 
house?”  Not  liking  to  hazard  a  guess,  he  said,  “AY el!,  then,  I 
will  tell  you  In  the  course  of  those  thirty  years,  to  my  certain 
knowledge,  thirty  victims  have  perished  most  miserably  in 
consequence  of  the  liquor  obtained  at  that  house.  Some  of  them 
were  opulent  farmers  belon  gin  g  to  this  neighborhood,  and  others 
were  gentlemen  of  independent  fortunes.  Some  of  them,  before 
their  death,  were  reduced  almost  to  penury,  and  most  of  them 
died  young,  or  in  the  prime  of  life.  Two  or  three  of  them  were 
carried  out  of  that  house  insensible,  and  died  shortly  afterwards 
in  their  own  homes,  and  others  pf  them  died  of  fever,  or  of 
delirium  tremens ,  supervening  on  a  debauch  at  that  house.” 

If  so  much  misery  be  inflicted  and  so  many  deaths  be  occa¬ 
sioned  by  a  public-house,  said  to  be  respectably  conducted  and 
situated  amid  beautiful  scenery,  so  well  calculated  to  withdraw 
men  from  vice  and  noisy  revelry  to  the  quiet  contemplation  of 
God’s  works,  then  what  must  be  the  misery  inflicted,  and  the 
deaths  occasioned,  in  connection  with  those  public-houses  not  so 
respectably  conducted,  and  situated  in  the  neighborhood  of  fac¬ 
tories,  or  in  the  densely-crowded  portions  of  our  large  towns? 

Alas  !  What  tragedies  hang  around  the  public-houses  of  our 
land,  and  what  bad  deeds  have  been  perpetrated  in  connection 
\vith  every  one  of  them.  Young  women  robbed  of  virtue  and 
modesty,  and  young  men  of  manliness  and  truth.  Wives  made 
to  break  their  marriage  vow,  and  husbands  transformed  into 
cruel  tyrants.  Homes  robbed  of  peace  and  furniture,  and  con¬ 
verted  into  arenas  of  strife,  brutality  and  crime. 

We  have  read  of  Pagan  temples,  and  Pagan  shrines  dedicated 
to  obscene  gods,  whose  priests  practised  the  crudest  rites  and 
darkest  orgies.  We  have  in  our  midst  150,000  temples  dedicated 
to  intemperance  and  vice,  and  upon  whose  altars  are  offered  up 
the  widow’s  tears,  the  children’s  bread,  and  the  virtue  and  happi¬ 
ness  of  the  people.  These  altars  are  stained  with  blood  ! 

The  manufacturers  of  these  pernicious  liquors,  Lord  Chester¬ 
field  calls,  “ artists  in  human  slaughter ,”  and  of  those  who  sell 
them,  John  Wesley  says,  “The  men  who  traffic  in  ardent  spirits, 
and  sell  to  all  who  will  buy,  are  poisoners-general ;  they  murder 
his  majesty’s  subjects  by  wholesale;  neither  does  their  eye  pity 
or  spare.  And  what  is  their  gain?  Is  it  not  the  blood  of  these 
men?  Who  would  envy  their  large  estates  and  sumptuous 
palaces?  A  curse  is  in  the  midst  of  them.  The  curse  of  God  is 


LIQUOR  SHOPS  A  NUISANCE  AND  A  CURSE.  71 
« 

on  their  gardens,  their  walks,  their  groves  ;  a  fire  that  burns  to 
the  nethermost  hell.  Blood,  blood  is  theirs  ;  the  foundation,  the 
floor,  the  walls,  the  roof,  are  stained  with  blood!” 

The  Rev.  C.  II.  Spurgeon  (in  ‘‘Sword  and  Trowel,”),  savs  of 
the  Gin-palaces,  “  the  fewer  of  those  licensed  slaughter-houses,  the 
better.” 

The  III.  lion.  John  Bright,  in  receiving  an  Alliance  Deputa¬ 
tion,  in  January,  1870,  stated  of  the  liquor  traffic,  that  “  Hitherto 
the  law  in  every  Christian,  in  every  civilized  country,  has 
admitted  it  to  be  a  business  that  was  as  fairly  to  be  carried  on  as 
any  other  business.”  May  we  not  also  add,  that  it  is  a  busi¬ 
ness  that  nearly  every  Christian  country  has  deplored  as  a  curse, 
and  which  they  have  anathematized,  and  occasionally  outlawed 
and  suppressed.  A  look  at  the  history  of  the  traffic  in  this 
country  alone,  will  convince  us-of  this. 

“  In  the  earlier  ages  of  its  (Scottish)  history,  according  to 
Hector  Boetius,  the  sellers  of  strong  drink  (then  chiefly  confined 
to  mead),  were  looked  upon  as  public  enemies,  who  made  pro¬ 
vision  for  the  voluptuous  pleasures  of  men  rather  than  for  their 
necessities ,  and  who  for  profit,  generallg  enticed  men  to  a  debauched 
and  vicious  life.  Argadus,  administrator  of  the  realm,  A.D.  160, 
confiscated  their  goods,  pulled  down  their  booses,  and  banished 
themselves.  Constantine  the  Second,  at  a  later  period,  when* 
the  evil  had  revived,  reenacted  this  law  at  Leone,  A.D.  861. 
adding  the  terrible  penalty  of  death,  in  case  the  Tavernier 
refused  to  depart,  or  resisted  the  execution  of  the  decree.” — Dr. 
Lees'  Prize  Essay,  p.  78. 

In  the  reign  of  Philip  and  Mary  an  act  was  passed  suppressing 
in  Ireland  the  traffic  in  Builcann ,  a  spirit  distilled  from  fer¬ 
mented  black  oats.  Its  manufacture  was  regarded  as  a  sinful 
and  dangerous  destruction  of  the  food  of  the  people,  and  sup¬ 
pressed  accordingly. — Ibid. 

In  England,  from  time  to  time,  attempts  have  been  made  to 
suppress,  at  least  in  part,  this  traffic,  and  to  proscribe  it  within 
very  narrow  limits.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  (1285)  it  was 
enacted  that  taverns  should  not  be  open  for  the  sale  of  wine 
and  beer  after  the  tolling  of  the  curfew.  In  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.,  only  three  taverns  were  allowed  in  the  metropolis. 
This  certainly  was  next  door  to  prohibition.  In  every  period  of 
our  history,  we  may  add,  of  the  world's  history,  public  drinking 
houses  or  taverns,  have  proved  themselves  a  nuisance  and  a 


72 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


curse.  And  these  houses  still  retain  their  ancient  character¬ 
istics,  they  have  grown  no  better,  if  anything,  worse.  Now,  as 
of  old,  they  are  centres  of  pollution  and  dens  of  infamy,  and 
draw  together  the  vile  of  the  people,  to  render  them  still  more 
hopelessly  vile;  they  are  also  the  means  of  inflicting  the  most 
abject  misery  upon  thousands,  who  otherwise  might  have  lived 
virtuously,  soberly,  and  godly. 

Testimonials  from  the  highest  authorities  will  show  that  we 
have  not  exaggerated  the  evils  of  drink  and  drinking-houses. 

1.  — Take  the  testimony  of  a  learned  divine ,  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers.  He  says: — “Before  God  and  man, 
before  the  church  and  the  world,  I  impeach  intemperance;  I 
charge  it  with  the  murder  of  innumerable  souls.  In  this  country, 
blessed  with  freedom  and  plenty,  the  word  of  God  and  the 
liberties  of  true  religion,  I  charge  it  as  the  cause,  whatever  may 
be  the  source  elsewhere ,  of  almost  all  the  poverty,  and  almost  all 
the  crime,  and  almost  all  the  misery,  and  almost  all  the  igno¬ 
rance,  and  almost  all  the  irreligion  that  disgrace  and  afflict  the 
land.  I  am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus,  I  speak  the  words  of 
truth  and  soberness.  1  do  in  my  conscience  believe  that  these 
intoxicating  stimulants  have  sunk  into  perdition  more  men  and 
women,  than  have  found  a  grave  in  that  deluge  which  swept  over 
the  highest  hill  tops,  ingulfing  a  world,  of  which  but  eight  were 
saved.  As  compared  with  other  vices,  it  may  be  said  of  this, 
Saul  hath  slain  his  thousands,  David  his  tens  of  thousands.” 

2.  — Take  the  testimony  of  a  celebrated  statesman.  The 
Bight  Hon.  TV.  E.  Gladstone,  addressing  his  constituents  at 
TV  einuth.  in  18G7,  and,  after  stating  that  he  was  not  a  temper¬ 
ance  man  himself,  went  on  to  say  :  “There  was  no  doubt, 
whatever,  that  the  tendency  of  excess  in  drink  is  a  great  curse, 
and  a  great  plague  to  the  people  of  England.  Many  is  the  fine 
fellow  that  is  ruined  by  it;  many  is  the  man  that  might  have 
been  among  the  very  best  and  most  useful  members  of  society,  if* 
it  had  not  been  for  that  one  curse'and  plague.” 

3.  — Take  the  testimony  of  a  great  thinker.  Goldwin  Smith 
sayS  . — “  It  is  too  clear  that  the  rapid  extension  of  the  present 
system  is  threatening  the  very  life  of  the  community, — that  it 
is  producing  a  physical  and  moral  pestilence  more  deadly  in  the 
deepest  sense  than  any  other  plague  which  stalks  the  infected 
cities  of  the  east ;  that  it  is  bringing  great  masses  of  our  work- 
ing  classes  to  a  self-imposed  bondage,  more  complete  and  more 


I 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  A  CHURCH  CONVOCATION.  73 

degrading  than  slavery  itself ;  that  it  is  undoing  for  the  people; 
that  it  is  not  only  filling  the  present  with  unspeakable  misery 
and  vice,  but  blighting  the  prospects  of  labor  for  the  future.” 

4.  — Take  the  statement  of  an  English  bishop.  Dr.  Temple 
says: — “I  do  not  think  that  it  can,  for  one  moment,  be  denied 
that  there  is  no  other  evil  at  present  in  this  country,  so  deadly  in 
its  operation  as  the  drunkenness  that  prevails  among  us.  Even 
those  who  altogether  oppose  all  that  you  are  doing,  and  all  that 
I  should  wish  to  do — even  those  are  not  prepared  to  deny  what, 
indeed,  is  the  plainest  of  facts,  that  far  the  largest  part  of  all 
the  evils  which  men  suffer  now,  that  can  be  at  all  prevented  by 
human  means,  come3  of  the  indulgence  in  this  one  fearful  sin. 
I  do  not  think  that  I  am  at  all  overstating,  when  I  say,  that  this 
one  cause  of  unhappiness  and  crime  is  equal  in  its  bad  effects  to 
all  the  other  causes  put  together.” — Speech  as  Chairman  of  the 
United  Kingdom  Alliance  Anniversary  Meeting ,  held  in  the  Free 
Hall,-  Manchester,  October ,  1869. 

5.  — Take  the  testimony  of  a  Church  Convocation , — we  refer  to 
the  report  on  intemperance  of  the  Lower  House  of  Convocation 
of  the  province  of  Canterbury.  “  The  results  of  intemperance, 
as  portrayed  in  the  evidence  before  your  committee,  are  of  the 
most  appalling  description.  In  the  case  of  individuals,  it  is 
shown  that  loss  of  health  and  intellect,  decay  of  strength,  disease 
in  its  most  frightful  forms,  and  premature  death,  are  the  usual 
products  of  intemperance;  that  the  temper  is  soured,  the  passions 
inflamed,  the  whole  nature  brutalized  by  it — in  short,  that  there 
is  no  enormity  of  blasphemy  in  language,  and  cruelty  in  action,  of 
which  even  persons  naturally  gentle  and  well  conducted,  are  not 
capable  of,  and  to  which  they  are  impelled  when  under  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  drink.  In  family  life,  affections  are  blunted  and  oblit¬ 
erated  ;  the  tenderest  relations  are  outraged  and  set  at  nought ; 
children  are  left  without  food,  clothing,  or  education,  and  aban¬ 
doned  or  forced  to  crime  by  the  authors  of  their  being,  that  the 
means  of  gratifying  the  craving  for  drink  may  be  obtained. 
Husbands  are  neglected  by  their  wives ;  wives  are  subject  to 
revolting  cruelty  and  violence;  infants  are  often  overlaid  and 
killed,  and  the  sin  of  the  parent  is  visited  on  a  stunted,  sickly, 
and  debilitated  offspring. 

“  As  to  the  evils  inflicted  on  society  and  the  nation  at  large  by 
intemperance,  these  in  their  nature  and  amount,  as  attested  in 
the  evidence  before  your  committee,  are  not  only  harrowing  and 
7 


74 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


humiliating  to  contemplate,  but  so  many  and  wide-spread  as 
almost  to  defy  computation.  In  no  country,  probably,  is  indul¬ 
gence  in  this  vice  so  prevalent  as  in  our  own.  It  may  be  truly 
said  of  our  body  politic,  that  the  whole  head  is  sick,  and  the 
whole  heart  faint.  And,  unless  remedies  be  speedily  and 
effectively  supplied,  consequences  the  most  disastrous  to  us  as  a 
people  cannot  be  averted/’ 

6.  — Take  the  testimony  of  an  eminent  Judge.  Says  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice,  Sir  W.  Bovil,  in  a  letter  to  the  Venerable  Arch¬ 
deacon  Sanford : — “  I  have  no  hesitation  in  stating  that  in  the 
North  of  England,  and  in  most  oi'  the  large  towns,  and  the 
manufacturing  and  mining  districts,  intemperance  is  directly  or 
indirectly  the  cause  of  by  far  the  largest  proportion  of  the  crimes 
that  have  come  under  my  observation. 

“Amongst  a  large  class  of  our  population  intemperance  in  early 
life  is  the  direct  and  immediate  cause  of  every  kind  of  immorality, 
profligacy  and  vice,  and  soon  leads  to  the  commission  of  crime. 
It  is  frequently  very  painful  to  find  honest  and  well  disposed, 
and  hard-working  men,  who  do  not  belong  to  the  criminal  class, 
placed  in  the  dock  for  serious  crimes  committed  under  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  drink,  and  who,  if  they  had  been  in  possession  of  their 
senses,  would  never  have  thought  of  committing  such  crimes ; 
and  still  more  painful  to  a  judge,  to  have  to  sentence  such  men 
to  long  terms  of  imprisonment,  to  the  ruin  of  themselves  and 
families.  The  cost  to  the  country  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
prisoners  and  their  families  likewise  becomes  a  matter  of  very 
serious  importance.  Considering  the  amount  of  pauperism  as 
well  as  crime  which  is  thus  occasioned,  it  would  seem  to  be  the 
imperative  duty,  as  well  as  the  interest  of  the  state,  to  endeavor 
to  provide  some  remedy ,  which  will  check  so  frightful  an  evil.” 

7.  — Lastly,  take  the  testimony  of  a  noted  Brewer.  Mr.  Charles 
Buxton,  M.  P.,  in  his  pamphlet,  “IIow  to  Stop  Drunkenness,” 
says: — “It  would  not  be  too  much  to  say,  that  if  all  drinking  of 
fermented  liquors  could  be  done  away,  crime  of  every  kind  would 
fall  to  a  fourth  of  its  present  amount,  and  the  whole  tone  of 
moral  feeling  in  the  lower  orders  might  be  indefinitely  raised. 
Not  only  does  this  vice  produce  all  kinds  of  wanton  mischief, 
but  it  has  also  a  negative  effect  of  great  importance.  It  is  the 
mightiest  of  all  the  forces  that  clog  the  progress  of  good.  It  is 
in  vain  that  every  engine  is  set  to  work  that  philanthropy  can 
devise,  when  those  whom  we  seek  to  benefit  are  habitually  tarn- 


WORSE  THAN  WAR,  PESTILENCE  AND  FAMINE.  75 


poring  with  their  faculties  of  reason  and  will — soaking  their 
brains  with  beer,  or  influencing  them  with  ardent  spirits.  The 
struggle  of  the  School,  the  Library,  and  the  Church,  all  united 
against  the  beer-house  and  the  gin  palace,  is  but  one  development 
of  the  war  between  heaven  and  hell.  It  is,  in  short,  intoxication 
that  frlls  our  gaols — it  is  intoxication  that  fills  our  lunatic 
asylums,  and  it  is  intoxication  that  fills  our  workhouses  with 
poor.  Were  it  not  for  this  one  cause,  pauperism  would  be  nearly 
extinguished  in  England.  We  are  convinced  that  if  a  statesman 
who  heartily  wished  to  do  the  utmost  possible  good  to  his  country, 
were  thoughtfully  to  inquire  which  of  the  topics  of  the  day  de¬ 
served  the  most  intense  force  of  his  attention,  the  true  reply — the 
reply  which  would  be  exacted  by  full  deliberation — would  be,  that 
he  should  study  the  means  by  which  this  icorst  of  plagues  can  be 
stayed.  The  intellectual,  the  moral,  and  the  religious  welfare  of 
our  people,  their  national  comforts,  their  domestic  happiness, 
are  all  involved.  The  question  is,  whether  millions  of  our 
countrymen  shall  be  helped  to  become  happier  and  wiser — 
whether  pauperism,  lunacy,  disease  and  crime  shall  be  dimin¬ 
ished — whether  multitudes  of  men,  women  and  children  shall 
be  aided  to  escape  from  utter  ruin  of  body  and  soul?  But  what 
we  would  throw  out  for  consideration  is  the  question,  Whether  it 
should  not  be  allowed,  that  when  five-sixths  of  the  rate-payers  of 
a  parish  demand  the  entire  extinction  of  all  the  places  for  the 
sale  of  fermented  liquors,  their  prayer  should  be  granted,  and  all 
licenses  then  existing  should  expire,  after  a  fair  time  had  been 
allowed  for  the  publicans  to  make  other  arrangements.” 

Our  proposition  states  that  the  drinking  s}^stcin  is  the  greatest 
evil  in  our  land.  And  where  indeed,  for  vi'.lany,  immorality, 
and  destructiveness,  shall  we  find  anything  comparable  to  it? 

Its  ravages  extend  down  the  stream  of  time  coming  from  the 
barbarous  tribes  once  inhabiting  our  country,  but  gathering 
strength,  from  age  to  age,  until  now  it  threatens  to  overwhelm  us 
with  the  greatest  evils  that  can  menace  a  people.  To  the  mead¬ 
drinking  Saxons  succeeded  the  wine-drinking  Normans,  and  the 
beer-drinking  of  the  agglomerated  races  forming  the  English 
people.  To  this  was  added  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirits  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  to  that  again  the  consumption  of  various 
kinds  of  intoxicating  liquors,  rendered  more  complicated  and 
deadly  by  the  addition  of  stupefying  drugs. 

Intemperance  is  an  evil  more  desolating  than  war.  It  is  true  the 


76 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


ravages  of  war  are  terrible,  and  when  its  dark  thunder  clouds 
burst  upon  a  country,  woe  to  the  inhabitants  thereof.  "When 
Mars  rides  forth  in  his  blood-red  chariot,  rapine  and  violence, 
pestilence  and  famine,  bring  up  the  rear.  But  the  longest  and 
most  disastrous  wars  terminate  at  last,  and  the  people  have 
rest.  Overthrown  cities  arise  again,  and  desolated  plains  wave 
afresh  with  luxuriant  harvests.  Not  so  with  intemperance :  its 
ravages  never  cease,  whilst  all  that  is  horrible  and  cruel  in  war, 
the  after-pillage,  violence,  murder,  and  outrage,  are  aggravated 
and  intensified  by  intemperance. 

It  is  an  evil  more  destructive  than  the  pestilence.  When  the 
pestilence  devastates  a  land,  some  of  the  noblest  and  most 
heroic  virtues  which  adorn  humanity  are  developed  and  ex¬ 
pressed,  but  strong  drink  demoralizes  and  corrupts  all  who  yield 
themselves  to  its  influence.  Repeated  visitations  of  the  pesti¬ 
lence — ;1t  one  time  as  the  terrible  plague,  then  as  the  sweating- 
sickness,  or,  lastly,  as  the  ghastly  cholera — have  taught  men  wis¬ 
dom,  and  by  improved  sanitary  arrangements,  and  certain  sci¬ 
entific  appliances,  pestilences  have  been  deprived  of  their  former 
terrors,  and  their  destructive  ravages  are  confined  within  nar¬ 
rower  bounds,  and  were  it  not  for  its  dread  ally, •  intemperance, 
we  should  have  little  to  fear;  but  it  is  strong  drink  that  prepares 
the  way  for  the  pestilence,  and  that  adds  to  its  fatality. 

Intemperance  is  more  cruel  than  famine ,  for  it  destroys  the  food 
that  ought  to  be  applied  to  feed  a  famine-stricken  people. 
Nature  is  unchangeable  within  certain  narrow  limits,  and  she 
produces  sufficient  food,  though  not  ahvays  equally  distributed, 
to  meet  the  wants  of  all  her  children.  A  bad  harvest  is  suc¬ 
ceeded  by  a  plentiful  one,  and  dearth  in  one  land  is  balanced  by 
superabundant  plenty  in  another.  What  one  country  may  lack 
another  provides. 

“Each  climate  needs  what  other  climes  produce; 

And  oilers  something  to  the  general  use; 

No  land  but  listens  to  the  common  call, 

And,  in  return,  receives  supply  from  all.” 

Man  is  endowed  with  intelligence,  that  he  may  prepare  for  the 
occasional  fluctuations  of  nature,  and  that  he  may  be  the  dis¬ 
tributer  of  that  food  so  amply,  if  not  so  uniformly  provided, 
conveying  it  from  the  land  of  plenty  to  the  land  of  dearth.  But 
how'  can  this  be  done,  w  hen  a  fourth  part  of  the  food  produced 
in  certain  countries  is  wantonly  destroyed  by  conversion  into 


INTEMPERANCE  THE  MONSTER  EVIL. 


77 


intoxicating  liquor.  Famines  only  recur  at  rare  and  distant 
intervals,  and  are  chiefly  confined  to  districts  remote  from  the 
civilized  world;  hut  where  intemperance  abounds  you  have  a 
chronic  famine.  Day  hy  day '  thousands  starve,  pine,  and  die, 
because  those  who  ought  to  provide  for  them  waste  their  sub¬ 
stance  and  expend  their  means  upon  intoxicating  liquor. 

Intemperance  is  an  evil  more  demoralizing  than  slavery.  It 
corrupts  the  heart,  the  fountain  of  human  affections,  and  sinks 
man  lower  in  the  scale  of  being  than  slavery  of  itself  can  do. 
Its  victims,  too,  are  more  numerous,  and  suffer  much  more 
intensely.  The  links  of  this  chain  eat  more  deeply  into  the  soul. 

In  short,  this  evil  is  more  destructive  to  the  general  well-being 
of  society  than  any  other  vice,  or  than  all  other  vices  put  to¬ 
gether.  For  the  most  part,  indeed,  other  vices  and  evils  spring 
from  the  drinking  system,  and  their  most  revolting  features  are 
borrowed  from  it.  Apart  from  drinking,  they  are  comparatively 
manageable,  or  disappear  altogether.  Gambling,  prostitution, 
and  other  abominations,  flourish  most  luxuriantly,  but  with  the 
luxuriance  of  the  nightshade,  where  intemperance  abounds. 

The  drinking  system  is  a  more  deadly  and  demoralizing  evil 
than  the  opium  plague  of  the  far  East.  The  consumption  of 
this  drug,  indeed,  is  not  confined  to  the  Chinese  and  Moham¬ 
medans.  Its  use,  in  fact,  is  very  largely  extended  in  this 
country,  altogether  apart  from  its  legitimate  use  as  a  medicine. 
For  many  years  now  it  has  been  extensively  administered  to 
infants  by  monthly  nurses,  or  by  ignorant,  idle,  and  unnatural 
mothers,  in  the  form  of  Godfrey’s  Cordial,  and  other  soothing 
syrups.  In  consequence,  thousands  of  these  little  ones  suffer 
from  almost  constant  narcotism,  and  are  either  poisoned  out  of 
the  world  ere  they  have  seen  the  end  of  their  first  year,  or  they 
grow  up  sickly,  with  depraved  appetites  and  weakened  intel¬ 
lects,  to  fall  victims  in  after  years  to  the  vice  of  intemperance. 
It  is  our  conviction,  founded  on  extensive  observation,  that  the 
injury  done  to  the  nervous  systems  of  children  by  the  adminis¬ 
tration  of  these  nostrums,  leads,  in  after  years,  to  the  develop¬ 
ment  cf  the  drunkard’s  appetite,  and  the  misery  of  the  drunkard's 
career. 

The  use  of  opium  is  also  increasing  most  alarmingly  on  the 
part  of  our  adult  population  ;  not,  as  was  once  stupidly  asserted, 
amongst  the  teetotalers.  We  are  acquainted  with  several  con¬ 
firmed  cases  of  opium  caters.  Some  take  it  in  the  form  of 


78 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


paregoric  elixir,  others  in  the  form  of  laudanum,  and  some,  again, 
gulping  down  the  solid  drug.  It  is  no  doubt  used  excessively  in 
adulterating  beer  and  ale. 

Dr.  Pereira  says: — “There  is  great  reason  to  believe  that  the  practice 
of  opium-eating  is  very  common  in  this  country  among  the  lower,  as  well 
as  the  middle  classes.  The  consumption  of  opium  is  very  great,  and 
wholly  disproportionate  to  the  quantity  required  for  medicinal  purposes. 
From  an  official  report  just  published  (1853),  it  appears  that  during  the 
last  five  months  the  enormous  quantity  of  G3.384  lbs.  had  been  imported 
into  the  country,  the  quantity  for  the  last  month  was  9,699  tbs." — Materia 
Mtdica. 

Says  Dr.  Alfred  Taylor  in  the  Times  (1861).  speaking  of  certain  dis¬ 
tricts  not  remarkable  for  temperance,  anjl  referring  more  particularly  to 
Northampton,  Plymouth,  and  Merthyr-Tydvil : — ‘Immense  quantities 
are  sent  into  these  districts,  and  the  retail  druggists  ofien  dispense  as 
much  as  200  lbs.  of  laudanum  a  year.  In  one  district  the  average 
annual  consumption  is  calculated  to  be  at  least  100  grains  of  opium  per 
head.  It  is  sold  in  penny  sticks  or  pills;  and  a  well  accustomed  shop 
will  serve  300  or  400  customers  on  Saturday  night.  A  man  in  South 
Lancashire  complained  that  h.s  wife  had  spent  £100  in  opium  since  she 
was  married.’' 

These  are  sad  disclosures,  and  it  would  seem  we  arc  in  danger 
of  being  inundated  with  the  ravages  of  opium-eating,  even  as  we 
are  now  with  the  ravages  of  alcohol-drinking.  The  same  law 
of  narcotics — that  use  generates  abuse — governs  both  practices, 
as  well  as  tobacco-smoking.  Whether  the  late  Act  to  Regulate 
the  sale  of  Poisons,  which  came  into  force  on  January  1st,  1869, 
has  had  any  effect  in  checking  this  evil,  we  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  ascertain. 

As  a  warning  to  our  readers,  we  shall  now  describe  the  effect 
of  opium-eating  upon  the  Chinese,  they  being  more  addicted  to 
this  vice  than  perhaps  any  other  nation. 

The  Alliance  American  Commissioner  (Dr.  Lees),  writes  to 
the  Alliance  News ,  under  date  November  27th.  1869,  as  follows  : 
“  At  Chinese  camp,  in  California,  I  took  pains  to  go  among 
the  Chinese,  not  only  to  their  shops,  where  I  saw  many  buying 
op  um,  but  to  their  homes,  where  I  saw  them  smoking  it.  I 
also  visited  an  hospital,  and  saw  two  men  dying  of  the  atrophy 
which  the  habit  brings  on.  It  was  a  sorrowful  scene  of  *  death- 
in-life.’  Already  dead  to  all  work,  all  emotion,  all  thought.  I 
saw  a  few  gleams  of  memory  light  up  their  parched  faces  and 
dulled  eyes  as,  in  smoking  the  drugs  at  intervals,  they  doubtless 


THE  EFFECTS  OF  OPIUM-EATING. 


79 


thought  themselves  once  more  in  the  far,  familiar  home  which 
they  would  never  again  behold!  And  yet  this  baneful  habit 
does  not  produce  the  horrible  effects  of  alcohol — does  not  so 
endanger  society,  and  disturb  the  foundations  of  government, 
because  it  does  not  so  disturb,  demoralize,  and  demonize  the 
soul.” 

In  the  British  and  Foreign  Medical  Review ,  (vol.  iv.  p.  394), 
Dr.  Oppenheim  thus  describes  the  effects  of  opium-eating  upon 
the  inhabitants  of  Turkey  and  Persia: 

“  The  causes  leading  to  the  use  of  opium  are  many,  and  among  them 
may  be  reckoned  the  fol  owing: — Long  continued  diarrhoea,  as  a  remedy 
for  which  opium  is  used  in  the  first  instance,  and  its  use  afterwards  con¬ 
tinued  from  habit  [no  craving;]  chronic  coughs,  in  which  opium  is  also 
used  as  a  popular  remedy ;  habitual  drunkards  also  frequently  have 
recourse  to  opium  as  a  new  stimulus,  after  they  have  abjured  wine  in  a  fit 
of  repentance.  Persons  holding  high  offices,  or  dignities  in  the  state,  have 
also  recourse  to  opium,  when  the  preservation  of  their  character  forbids 
them  the  use  of  wine ;  some  very  strict  believers  also  take  opium  as  a 
restorative  in  cases  of  great  exertion,  as  the  Tartars  {couriers),  who  travel 
with  astonishing  celerity.  Opium-eaters  generally  begin  with  doses  of 
from  half  a  grain  to  two  grains,  and  gradually  increase  the  quantity  till 
it  amounts  to  two  drachms,  and  sometimes  more,  a  day;  they  usually  take 
the  opium  in  pills,  but  avoid  drinking  any  water  after  having  swmllowed 
them,  as  this  is  said  to  produce  violent,  colic.  To  make  it  more  palatable, 
it  is  somet  mes  mixed  with  syrups,  or  thickened  juices ;  but  in  this  form 
it  is  less  intoxicating,  and  resembles  mead;  it  is  then  taken  with  a  spoon, 
or  is  dried  in  small  cakes,  with  the  words  Mash  Allah,  ‘  the  work  of  God,’ 
imprinted  on  them. 

'•  The  habitual  opium-eater,  is  instantly  recognized  by  his  appearance. 
A  total  attenuation  of  body,  a  withered,  yellow  countenance,  a  lame  gait, 
a  bending  of  the  spine,  frequently  to  such  a  degree  as  to  assume  a  cir¬ 
cular  form,  and  glassy,  deep-sunken  eyes,  betray  him  at  the  first  glance. 
The  digestive  organs  are  in  the  highest  degree  disturbed;  the  sufferer 
eats  scarcely  anything,  and  has  hardly  one  evacuation  in  a  week;  his 
mental  and  bodily  powers  are  destroyed — he  is  impotent.  By  degrees, 
as  the  habit  becomes  more  confirmed,  his  strength  continues  decreasing, 
the  craving  for  the  slhmdus  becomes  ever  greater,  and  to  produce  the  desired 
effect,  the  dose  must  be  constantly  augmented.  When  the  dose  of  two  or 
three  drachms  a  day  no  longer  jiroduces  the  beatific  intoxication  so  eagerly 
sought  by  the  opiophagi,  they  mix  the  opium  with  corrosive  stiblimate,  in¬ 
creasing  the. quantity  till  it  reaches  to  ten  grains  a  day;  it  then  acts  as 
a  stimulant.  After  long  indulgence  the  opium-eater  becomes  subject  to 
nervous  or  neuralgic  pains  to  which  opium  itself  brings  no  relief.  These 
people  seldom  attain  the  age  of  forty,  if  they  have  begun  to  eat  opium  at 
an  early  age.  The  fasts  in  the  month  Ramadan  are  for  them  fraught  with 


80 


THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE. 


the  most  dreadful  tortures,  as  during  the  whole  of  that  month  they  are 
not  allowed  to  take  anything  during  the  day.  It  is  said  that  to  assuage 
their  sufferings  they  swallow,  before  the  morning  prayer,  besides  the  usual 
dose,  a  certain  number  of  other  doses  wrapped  up  in  particular  papers, 
having  previously  calculated  the  time  when  each  envelope  shall  be  un¬ 
folded,  and  allow  the  pill  to  produce  the  effects  of  their  usual  allowance. 
When  this  baneful  habit  has  been  confirmed,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  break 
it  off;  the  torments  of  the  opium-eater  when  deprived  of  this  stimulant, 
are  as  dreadful  as  his  bliss  is  complete  when  he  has  taken  it;  to  him  night 
brings  the  torments  of  hell,  day  the  bliss  of  paradise.  Those  who  do  make 
the  attempt  to  discontinue  the  use  of  opium,  usually  mix  it  with  wax,  and 
daily  diminish  the  quantity  of  the  opium,  till  the  pill  at  last  contains 
nothing  but  wax.” 

The  opium  curse  is  indeed  great  and  terrible,  and  in  the  con¬ 
fessions  of  English  opium-eaters,  to  wit,  De  Quincey  and 
Coleridge,  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  miseries  it  inflicts  upon 
its  victims;  first  beguiling  them  with  pleasant  reveries,  then 
enchaining  them  in  hopeless  slavery,  and  finally  inflicting  upon 
them  indescribable  torments.  But  great  and  terrible  though 
this  curse  be,  it  must  yield  the  palm  to  the  still  greater  and  more 
terrible  curse  of  our  drinking  system.  Where  opium  lulls  the 
passions,  alcohol  arouses  them,  and  where  opium  brings  prostra¬ 
tion  and  inanition,  alcohol  urges  on  to  deeds  of  violence  and 
murder. 


BACCHUS  DETHRONED. 


•  81 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 

Prop.  II. — 11  That  all  intoxicating  liquors  are  perfectly  useless  for 
every  purpose  of  life ,  as  ai  tides  of  diet.'1'1 

Is  alcohol  food?  This  is  now  the  great  question  before  us, 
and  in  seeking  its  solution,  we  must  inquire — What  is  Food? 
and  then — Does  alcohol  answer  to  this  reply  ? 

Any  substance  containing  the  elements  of  which  the  human 
body  is  composed,  in  such  a  state  of  combination  that  the  body 
can  appropriate  them,  is  food.  If  then  we  take  up  any  sub¬ 
stance,  we  must  seek  to  ascertain  these  two  things: — 1st,  Does 
it  contain  those  elements  of  which  the  body  is  composed?  And 
2d,  Does  it  possess  them  in  such  a  state  that  the  body  can  use 
them?  Now  to  ascertain  this,  we  must  inquire,  (1)  Of  what  is 
the  body  composed  ?  (2)  What  are  those  physiological  changes 

which  render  food  necessary?  And  (3)  Does  chemical  analysis, 
carefully  conducted  experiment,  and  experience  conjoined,  attest 
that  any  substance  called  ‘‘food”  fulfils  the  necessities  required  ? 

1st. — The  human  body,  examined  chemically,  is  found  to  be 
composed  of  a  variety  of  compound  substances,  each  of  which  is 
capable  of  being  reduced  to  simpler  forms.  We  find  albumen 
in  the  blood  and  nerve  matter,  which  when  analyzed  gives  pro¬ 
tein  ten  parts,  sulphur  two  parts,  and  phosphorus  one  part; 
fibrine  found  in  the  muscles  and  in  the  blood,  gives  protein  ten 
parts,  sulphur  one  part,  and  phosphorus  one  part.  The  protein 
again  may  be  ultimately  resolved  into  carbon,  oxygen,  nitrogen, 
and  hydrogen,  combined  in  different  proportions. 

Fat  is  found  in  the  blood,  and  in  the  cells  of  the  adipose  tissues, 
giving  rotundity  and  comeliness  to  the  body.  Proximate  an¬ 
alysis  shows  this  substance  to  be  composed  of  stearine,  oleine 
and  margarine;  while  ultimate  analysis  resolves  it  into  the 
simple  elements — carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen. 

Gelatine  is  found  in  the  cartilaginous  tissues,  but  not  in  the 
blood. 


82  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


The  body  also  contains  water,  which  can  be  resolved  into 
oxygen  and  hydrogen.  The  hotly,  in  fact,  is  mainly  composed  of 
water.  A  man  weighing  154  lbs.  will  be  composed  of  about  88  tbs. 
water,  and  only  66  lbs.  of  solid  material.  Water  enters  into  the 
formation  of  all  the  tissues,  and  without  it  the  body  would 
crumble  to  atoms.  The  blood  contains  about  80  parts  water, 
which  is  the  vehicle  for  conveying  to  the  different  tissues  those 
nutritive  products  they  from  time  to  time  require,  and  for 
removing  those  obnoxious  products  of  waste  which  must  bo 
thrown  out  of  the  body  as  fast  as  formed. 

We  also  find  in  the  blood  a  variety  of  earthy  and  saline  mat¬ 
ters,  as  phosphate  of  lime  forming  the  principal  part  of  the 
earthy  matters  of  bone.  Silica  foqnd  in  the  nails,  hair,  and 
enamel  of  teeth;  carbonate  of  lime  also  entering  into  the  com¬ 
position  of  bone  ;  peroxide  of  iron  existing  in  the  red  globules  of 
the  blood.  There  is  also  creatine  and  creatinine  contained  in 
the  flesh  ;  they  are  nitrogenous  derivatives  of  flesh,  and  resemble 
in  their  nature,  quinine.  There  is  also  to  be  found  chloride  of 
sodium,  or  common  salt;  sulphate  of  potash;  sulphate  of  soda; 
and  other  saline  ingredients.  In  fact,  one  gallon  of  blood  con¬ 
tains  420  grains  of  saline  matter. 

Such  then  are  the  materials  of  the  human  body;  and  any 
article  claiming  to  be  food  must  contain  one  or  more  of  those 
substances  entering  into  its  composition,  or  it  must  contain  those 
elements  which  go  to  form  them,  in  such  a  state  of  combination 
that  the  body  can  appropriate  them.  It  is  not  what  goes  into 
the  mouth  that  nourishes  a  man  ;  but  what  the  stomach  can 
digest,  and  the  body  work  up  into  its  own  structure.  Now  it  is 
a  sine  qua  non ,  that  the  mineral  ingredients  be  in  a  state  of  com¬ 
bination  either  with  animal  or  vegetable  products,  in  order  that 
the  human  body  may  appropriate  them.  Vegetables  may  thrive 
upon  the  raw  material,  but  animals  cannot.  There  is  but  one 
exception  to  this  rule,  and  that  is  salt.  We  read  indeed  of 
certain  people  possessing  very  curious  appetites  for  certain  crude 
products,  that  have  not  yet  been  transformed  either  into  animals 
or  vegetables.  Sometimes  they  eat  coal  (carbon),  sometimes 
slate-pencil  (silica),  etc.  ’But  they  don’t  improve  upon  this  diet; 
nay,  rather,  they  become  thin  and  waste  away. 

We  know  of  but  one  perfect  typical  diet,  milk.  One  pound 
weight  of  which  contains  13^  ozs.  of  water,  J  oz.  of  mineral  mat¬ 
ters,  f  oz.  of  sugar,  $  oz.  of  butter,  £  oz.  of  caseine,  a  substance 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  CHANGES. 


83 


analogous  to  albumen.  In  fact,  it  contains  all  the  elements  the 
body  requires,  and,  withal,  in  such  a  form  that  the  body  can 
readily  appropriate  them. 

2d.— We  inquire  what  are  those  physiological  operations 
going  on  within  the  body,  necessitating  and  indicating  food? 

The  first  is  that  of  combustion.  By  means  of  this  process 
the  body  is  preserved  at  a  given  temperature,  98°  Fahrenheit, 
whatever  the  external  temperature  may  be.  You  may  place  a 
man  in  a  room  heated  to  300°,  only  supply  him  with  plenty  of 
water  and  atmospheric  air  to  breathe,  and  he  will  neither  bake 
nor  burn;  but  the  internal  parts  of  his  body  will  still  indicate  a 
temperature  of  98°.  Or  place  him  upon  a  field  of  ice  amid  polar 
snows,  only  supply  him  with  an  abundance  of  fatty  food,  and 
though  the  thermometer  may  indicate  20°  below  zero,  yet  will 
the  body  internally  still  give  98°. 

This  process  of  combustion  is  carried  on  in  the  lungs,  and  in 
the  cellular  membranes  and  ultimate  tissues  of  the  body;  in  fact, 
there  is  no  portion  of  the  body  where  it  is  not  being  continuously 
carried  on. 

Another  process  is  that  of  assimilation,  by  which  the  body 
works  up  into  its  own  tissues,  food  which  is  fitted  for  that  end. 

Another  process  is  that  of  disintegration,  or  the  pulling  down 
process. 

These  processes  are  continually  being  carried  on  in  the  body. 
We  cannot  conceive  an  idea,  speak  a  word,  or  move  a  muscle, 
but  we  wear  away  some  portion  of  this  delicate  and  complicated 
machine.  The  involuntary  movements  going  on  within  are  also 
a  source  of  constant  change.  As  the  constant  dropping  of  water 
wears  away  the  stone,  so  the  constant  friction  arising  from  the 
action  of  our  nervous  and  muscular  power  is  continually  wearing 
away  the  body.  To  repair  this  constant  waste,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  system  appropriate  fresh  material,  and  build  it  up  into 
its  own  tissues.  These  changes,  called  metamorphosis ,  are  so 
extensive  and  incessant,  that  in  about  seven  years  we  must  have 
a  bran  new  body,  no  single  particle  of  our  former  structure 
remaining. 

Dr.  E.  Lankester  calculates  that  a ‘human  being  loses  about 
the  fortieth  part  of  his  weight  every  day,  and  on  that  reckoning, 
the  vital  organs  are  renewed  every  forty  days. 

Disintegration  is  more  active  during  the  day;  assimilation, 
during  the  repose  of  slumber. 


/ 


84 


DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


It  appears  to  us  that  the  particles  forming  the  human  body 
can  only  remain  a  certain  time  in  a  healthy  condition.  Any¬ 
thing,  then,  retarding  these  changes,  or  hastening  one  and 
retarding  the  other,  must  prove  inimical  to  the  health  and  vigor 
of  the  body. 

Another  essential  process  is  elimination,  called  also  depu¬ 
ration,  which  is  a  throwing  out  from  the  body  of  those  w’orn  out 
particles,  the  retention  of  which  become  a  nuisance,  and  a 
source  of  danger.  As  disintegration  goes  on,  albuminous  struc¬ 
tures  are  resolved  into  lithate  of  ammonia,  and  the  gelatinous 
into  lactate  of  urea.  Now  these  are  poisonous,  and  if  suffered  to 
remain  in  the  circulation  beyond  a  certain  time,  they  poison  as 
certainly  as  though  they  had  been  ^introduced  into  the  system 
from  without.  Urea,  for  example,  is  a  brain-poison.  If  it3 
excretion  by  the  kidneys  is  checked,  as  in  some  cases  of  typhus, 
it  rises  to  the  head,  and  circulates  through  the  brain ;  the  breath 
smells  of  it,  the  patient  sinks  into  a  profound  stupor,  and  dies 
comatose,  poisoned  with  urea.  If  lithate  of  ammonia  be  retained, 
not  only  may  it  resolve  itself  into  lithic  acid,  but  also  into 
certain  combinations  of  cyanogen,  that  act  as  subtle  poisons. 
From  this  we  see  how  important  it  is  that  no  check  should  be 
placed  upon  the  natural  and  vigorous  performance  of  the  pro¬ 
cesses  of  elimination.  That  the  body  may  be  thoroughly  cleansed 
from  all  impurities,  the  body  is  provided  with  a  perfect  sewer¬ 
age  system.  In  this  respect  it  resembles  a  town,  the  sanitary 
arrangements  of  which  are  complete.  The  sewerage  pipes  are 
the  veins,  and  the  outlets  are  the  bowels,  kidneys,  skin,  and 
lungs.  Every  moment  of  our  existence  nature  is  engaged  in 
burning  up,  or  throwing  out  the  different  products  of  disintegra¬ 
tion,  thereby  keeping  the  body  sweet ,  healthy ,  and  'pure. 

Now  to  build  up  the  tissues,  to  support  combustion,  etc., 
three  kinds  of  food  are  needed.  1.  Tissueforming  foods.  2. 
Heat-giving  foods.  3.  Auxiliary  foods ;  or  such  as  aid  the  func¬ 
tions  of  the  other  two. 

Class  I.,  or  Tissue-forming  foods,  include  all  articles  of  diet 
containing  nitrogen;  as,  albumen,  fibrine,  and  caseine.  These 
are  also  called  the  protein  compounds,  proteine  being  the  sub¬ 
stance  common  to  them  all.  Albumen  has  this  peculiarity:  it 
cannot  be  formed  in  the  body  save  from  a  protein  compound ; 
so  that  it  is  impossible  to  transmute  water,  fat,  starch,  or  sugar, 
which  do  not  contain  it,  into  muscular  and  nervous  tissue. 


HEAT-GIVING  FOODS. 


85 


Class  II.,  or  Heat-giving  foods,  include  substances  -which,  by 
combustion,  are  the  source  of  heat,  such  as  starch,  sugar,  fat,  or 
oil.  (These  are  sometimes  called  carbonaceous  compounds.*)  In 
the  body,  heat  is  generated  in  the  same  way,  essentially,  as  in  the 
burning  of  a  coal  fire,  or  of  a  tallow  candle.  For  instance,  the 
fat  of  tallow  is  composed  of  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  carbon,  while 
the  cotton  wick  contains  also  some  ash.  These  form  a  compound, 
locking  up,  as  it  were,  in  reserve,  caloric  or  latent  heat.f  Now 
in  order  to  liberate  that  latent  heat,  you  must  reduce  that  com¬ 
pound  into  simpler,  and  lower  forms  of  matter.^  The  intensity 
of  the  heat  evolved  depends  upon  the  energy  of  the  combijstive 
process.  Now  apply  flame  to  the  wick  of  the  candle,  and  com¬ 
bustion  at  once  begins.  The  oxygen  of  the  air  in  part  combines 
with  the  hydrogen  of  the  tallow,  and  forms  water,  (as  you  can 
test  for  yourselves,  by  holding  a  cold  tumbler  over  the  flame); 
while  other  oxygen  of  the  air  combines  with  the  carbon,  and 
forms  carbonic-acid-gas.  (This  also  you  can  test  thus: — Put  an 
inverted  bottle  over  your  burning  candle  and  allow  the  flame  to 
burn  within  the  bottle  till  it  goes  out  for  want  of  air.  Withdraw 
the  candle,  and  fasten  up  your  bottle  secure,  with  a  cork,  in 
which  3tou  have  previously  placed  a  quill,  the  end  of  which  was 
stopped  with  a  little  plug.  Have  some  lime-water  prepared; 
remove  your  plug  ;  insert  a  funnel,  and  immediately  pour  in  the 
lime-water.  This  will  immediately  become  and  after 

standing  a  short  time,  an  insoluble  substance,  carbonate  of  lime 
[chalk],  will  fall  to  the  bottom.  How  are  we  to  account  for  this 
change?  Why,  the  carbon  of  the  carbonic-acid  produced  from 
the  carbon  of  the  candle  and  the  oxygen  of  the  air,  unites  with 
the  lime,  oxygen  flies  off,  and  chalk  is  the  product  which  remains.) 
In  the  wick  the  same  process  goes  on,  but,  as  it  contains  earthy 
materials,  these,  instead  of  flying  off,  remain  in  the  form  of  a 
black  ash,  which  we  remove  from  time  to  time  with  a  pair  of 
snuffers.  Thus  the  candle,  a  compound  substance,  is  entirely 
changed ;  its  elements  being  separated  and  transformed  into 
lower  and  simpler  forms  of  matter,  in  the  course  of  which  changes, 
light  and  heat  are  given  out.^[ 

*  All  organic  substances  alike  contain  carbon,  which  in  fact  is  the  skeleton- 
matter  of  them  ;  hence  this  name  is  a  misnomer. — Ed. 

j  Strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  such  thing.  Heat  is  matter  in  motion — i.  e.,  a 
form  of  force. —  Ed. 

%  What  really  happens  is,  that  the  force  of  chemical  cohesion  is  transformed 
into  motion. — Ed. 

To  drop  metaphorical  language,  we  should  say,  these  very  changes  called 
combustion,  produce  the  sensations  called  light  and  heat. — Ed. 

8  * 


86  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


Now  the  same  kind  of  process  is  carried  on  in  the  body  as  in 
the  burning  of  the  candle;  but  it  is  less  vigorous,  and  more 
graduated  The  lighted  candle  has  a  temperature  of  700°,  the 
human  body  98°  only.  We  take  the  fuel-foods  into  our  body, 
and  they  are  ox  d>zed  (or  burnt  off)  partly  in  the  lungs,  and 
partly  in  the  capillaries,  or  fine  blood-vessels  of  the  body.  As 
the  process  of  breathing  in  oxygen  goes  on,  our  fuel-food  obvi¬ 
ously  undergoes  a  change,  for  we  never  see  it  in  the  same  form 
again  ;  it  passes  away,  by  breath  and  transpiration,  in  the  form 
of  vapor  and  carbonic-acid-gas,  thus  maintaining  the  temper¬ 
ature  of  the  body.  Of  this  completeness  of  the  parallel  we  may 
assure  ourselves  at  any  time,  by  breathing  upon  polished  metal, 
or  a  piece  of  glass,  when  we  see  the  vapor  ;  and  by  breathing 
into  a  bottle  containing  lime-water,  when  exactl}'  the  same  change 
will  take  place  as  from  the  carbonic-acid-gas  of  the  candle. 

There  is  a  secondary  kind  of  fuel-food.  Every  particle  of 
tissue  pulled  down  by  the  disintegrating  process,  is  a  source  of 
animal-heat ;  for  where  the  albuminous  and  gelatinous  structures 
are  resolved  into  the  lower  forms,  heat  and  force  result;  so  that 
in  all  the  minute  cells  of  the  body  the  process  of  combustion 
is  going  on.  The  ash  left  behind, — the  mineral  matters  of  the 
food,  which  can  be  resolved  neither  into  vapor  nor  gas, — are  re¬ 
moved  from  the  body  by  the  operation  of  the  kidneys  and  bowels. 

Class  III.,  or  Auxiliary  foods.  The  matters  coming  under 
this  head  are  very  numerous — water ,  connnon  salt  ( chloride  of 
sodium ,)  which  is  found  in  the  blood  in  the  proportion  of  three 
drachms  to  one  gallon.  Its  great  function  is  to  hold  fibrine  and 
albumen  in  solution,  and  to  aid  the  absorption  of  fluids  into  the 
system.  Probably  also  it  produces  the  chlorine  of  the  hydro¬ 
chloric  acid  of  the  gastric  j.uicc  : — thus  playing  a  mo<t  impor¬ 
tant  part  in  the  animal  economy.  Then  there  is  peroxide  of  iron , 
so  necessary  to  the  vitality  of  the  blood.  There  are  also  all 
those  mineral  products  that  form  the  ash  of  plants  and  animals.* 

*  Food  may  he  also  classified  according  to  the  proportion  in  which  the  dif¬ 
ferent  dietetic  principles  are  found  in  it.  (1.)  Aqueous;  as  water,  and  tea,  and 
coffee,  because  they  consist  almost  entirely  of  water.*  (2.)  Amylaceous;  con¬ 
taining  a  large  proportion  of  starch,  as  rice,  potato,  sago,  arrowroot,  etc.  Sac¬ 
charine;  containing  a  large  proportion  of  sugar;  as  beet-root,  carrot,  sugar,  etc. 
The  amylaceous  and  saccharine  contain  about  4'.)  or  50  per  cent,  ot  carbon¬ 
aceous  matter.  (3.)  Oleayinuns ;  containing  a  large  proportion  ofoil, — as  cocoa, 
bacon,  butter,  etc.  These  contain  from  70  to  80  per  cent,  of  combustible 
matter.  (4.)  Fibrinous ;  containing  a  large  proportion  of  fibrine;  as  the  cereals, 
and  cooked  flesh,  meat,  etc.  (5.)  Caseinous;  containing  a  large  proportion 


ALCOHOL  NEITHER  FORMS  FLESH  NOR  GIVES  HEAT.  87 


Having  explained  the  nature  of  “food,”  and  classified  it,  we  are 
now  prepared  to  inquire — Is  alcohol  food?  To  those  who  answer, 
Yes!  we  ask  them,  please  point  out  the  class  to  which  it  belongs? 

1.  — Is  alcohol  a  flesh-farming  food ?  Uncomplimentary  science 
declares,  No!  It  contains  no  nitrogen,  and  cannot  therefore 
nourish  the  muscular  and  nervous  tissues. 

Baron  Liebig  says: — “Beer,  wine,  spirit,  etc.,  furnish  no  ele¬ 
ment  capable  of  entering  into  the  composition  of  blood,  mus¬ 
cular  fib-re,  or  any  part  which  is  the  seat  of  the  vital  principle.” 

Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter  says: — “Alcohol  cannot  supply  anything 
which  is  essential  to  the  due  nutrition  of  the  tissues.” — Manual 
of  Physiology,  4th  ed.,  1865,  p.  327. 

Dr.  Lionel  Beale,  F.  R.  S.,  Physician  to  King’s  College  Hos¬ 
pital,  and  an  eminent  Microscopist,  says: — “Alcohol  does  not 
act  as  food;  it  does  not  nourish  tissues;  it  may  diminish  waste  by 
altering  the  consistence  and  chemical  properties  of  fluid  and 
solids.  It  cuts  short  the  life  of  rapidly  growing  cells,  or  causes 
them  to  live  more  slowly.  The  remedies  which  act  favorably, 

REALLY  SEEM  TO  ACT,  NOT  BY  INCREASING  VITAL  POWER,  BUT  BY  DE¬ 
CREASING  THE  RATE  AT  WHICH  VITAL  CHANGES  ARE  PROCEEDING.”* 

Hence  we  see,  that  while  alcohol  is  not  a  tissue-forming  food, 
it  retards  the  nutrition  of  the  body. 

2.  — Is  alcohol  a  fuel  food?  Again  science  declares,  No!  for 
it  contains  no  fat,  no  starch,  and  no  sugar.  “  But,”  says  an  ob¬ 
jector,  “it  must  act  as  a  fuel-food  because  it  contains  elements 
which  enter  into  the  composition  of  fuel-foods,  as  carbon  and 
hydrogen.”  True  !  so  do  certain  corrosive  mineral  acids,  but 
who  would  attempt  to  use  them  as  fuel  foods,  for  instead  of  acting 
as  fuel  to  the  body  they  would  convert  it  into  fuel  by  burning  up 
its  tissues.  Alcohol,  instead  of  acting  as  fuel  in  the  body,  con¬ 
verts  it  into  fuel.  James  Ileygate,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  says: — “I 
have  often  said  that  brandy  ought  never  to  have  left  the  apothe¬ 
cary’s  shop  .  .  .  When  used  as  an  ordinary  drink,  not  even  in 
very  great  excess,  I  know  of  no  agent  so  destructive  to  the  tissues 
of  the  body.  Brandy  drinkers  are  notoriously  short-lived.” — 
Brit.  Med.  Journal,  Nov.  9th,  1862. 

Again,  though  alcohol  contains  carbon  and  hydrogen  elements, 

of  caseine,  as  the  leguminous  plants,  pears,  milk,  cheese,  etc.  The  Fibrinous 
an<l  Oaseinous  are  rich  in  nitrogen,  and  are  therefore  valuable  as  flesh- 
formers. 

*For  many  other  testimonies,  to  the  same  effect,  see  Doctors,  Drugs,  and 
Drink,  by  Dr.  F.  R.  Lees. 


88  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


it  does  not  contain  them  in  such  a  state  of  combination  that 
the  body  can  readily  and  innocently  appropriate  them. 

If  alcohol  was  a  fuel-food,  we  should  reasonably  expect  to  find 
that  when  taken  internally,  it  would  increase,  or  at  least,  not 
dijninish,  the  exhalation  of  water,  and  of  carbonic-acid-gas,  these 
being  the  products  of  combustion  ;  and  that  it  would  also  main¬ 
tain  the  temperature  of  the  body  at  98°.  But  such  is  not  the 
case.  The  amount  of  water  and  of  carbonic-acid-gas  passing 
away  from  the  lungs  is  lessened,  and  the  temperature  of  the 
body  is  (generally)  somewhat  lowered,  and  often  remarkably  so. 
— See  Chapter  III. 

Dr.  E.  Smith  says: — “The  action  of  the  skin  is  lessened.  It 
(alcohol)  neither  warms  nor  sustains  the  body,  (though)  the 
sensation  of  warmth  is  increased/’ 

Dr.  Vierordt,  of  Carlsruhe,  says,  as  the  result  of  experiment: 
— “  The  expiration  of  carbonic  acid,  after  the  (moderate)  use  of 
fermented  liquors,  is  considerably  diminished,  and  does  not  re¬ 
turn  to  its  normal  quantity  for  the  space  of  two  hours.”  Alcohol, 
then,  is  not  a  fuel-food  ;  for  instead  of  aiding  combustion  and 
maintaining  the  heat  of  the  body  up  to  its  healthy  standard,  it 
retards  combustion  and  lowers  temperature. 

3. — Is  alcohol  an  auxiliary  food?  Science  and  experience 
alike  answer,  No!  It  cannot  take  the  place  of  water.  For  though 
water,  like  alcohol,  is  not  transformed  in  the  body,  but  is  elimi¬ 
nated  unchanged,  it  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  body,  and  enters 
extensively  into  the  formation  of  all  the  tissues;  it  is  also  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  carrying  on  of  all  the  vital  processes.  Now,  as  Dr. 
Lees  has  observed,  all  that  water  is  to  the  body ,  alcohol  is  not. 
For  the  body  strives  to  get  rid  of  it  as  quickly  as  possible  by 
every  available  outlet.  Dr.  Carpenter  thus  shows  the  uses  of 
water  in  the  animal  economy.  “  It  is  water  which  holds  the 
organizable  materials  of  the  blood  either  in  solution  or  suspen¬ 
sion,  and  thus  serves  to  convey  them  through  the  minutest  capil¬ 
lary  pores  into  the  substance  of  the  solid  tissues.  It  is  water 
which,  mingled  in  various  proportions  with  the  solid  compo¬ 
nents  of  the  various  textpres,  gives  to  them  the  consistence 
they  require;  and  it  is  water  which  takes  up  the  products  of 
their  decay  and  conveys  them,  by  a  most  complicated  system  of 
sewage,  altogether  out  of  the  system  .  .  .  No  other  liquid  can 
supply  its  place;  and  the  deprivation  of  water  is  felt  even  more 
severely  than  the  deprivation  of  food  .  .  .  Alcohol  cannot  answer 


ALCOHOL  NOT  AN  AUXILIARY  FOOD. 


89 


any  one  of  those  important  purposes  for  which  the  use  of  wafer 
is  required  in  the  system  ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  it  tends  to 
antagonize  many  of  those  furposes  by  its  power  of  precipitat¬ 
ing  most  of  the  organic  compounds  whose  solution  in  water  is 
essential  to  their  appropriation  by  the  living  body." 

Neither  can  alcohol  take  the  place  ol  salt.  This  substance 
exists  in  the  blood  of  all  animals,  whether  they  take  it  in  its 
pure  state  or  not.  It  is  also  to  be  found  in  most  foods  ;  but 
alcohol  forms  no  portion  of  natural  food  ;  neither  can  it  be  de¬ 
tected  in  the  blood  unless  it  has  been  imbibed  as  alcohol,  and 
then  it  appears  and  acts  as  a  foreign  agent,  and  a  general  dis¬ 
turber  of  the  vital  functions.  Salt  variously  aids  digestion  5  it 
provides  chlorine  for  the  hydrochloric  acid  of  the  gastric  juice, 
and  combines  with  that  acid  to  increase  its  dissolving  power. 
Alcohol  never  acts  thus.  On  the  contrary,  it  retards  digestion 
by  hardening  the  food  in  the  stomach,  and  by  arresting  the 
chemical  action  of  the  gastric  juice.* 

Neither  can  alcohol  take  the  place  of  potash,  or  of  peroxide  of 
iron :  both  found  in  the  blood,  and  necessary  to  its  proper 
oxidation.  Take  away  potash  from  the  food,  and  scurvy  is  the 
result ;  take  away  iron,  and  wasting,  and  anaemia  ensue.  But 


*  Says  Dr.  Dundas  Thompson  “It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  alcohol,  when 
added  to  the  digestive  fluid,  produces  a  white  precipitate,  so  that  the  fluid  is 
no  longer  eapab.e  of  digesting  animal  or  vegetable  matter.”  Says  Todd  and 
lowman  :  1  he  use  of  a  eoliolic  stimulants  retards  digestion  by  coagula¬ 

ting  the  pepsine  (an  essential  element  of  the  gastric  juice),  and  thereby  inter- 
fenng  with  its  action  were  it  not  that  wine  and  spirits  are  rapidly  absorbed 
the  mtroduction  of  these  into  the  stomach,  in  any  quantity,  would  be  a  eoinl 
plele  bar  to  the  digestion  of  trie  food,  as  the  pepsine  would  be  precipitated 
from  solution  as  quickly  as  it  was  formed  by  the  stomach.”— This  fact  is 
fully  attested  by  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Munroe,  F.L.S.,  who  had  bottles 
containing  finely  minced  beef,  with  gastric  juice  taken  from  a  calf’s  stomach. 
In  one  bottle  the  gastric  juice  was  mixed  with  water;  in  another  with 

■mao  °  ha/i.d  in  a  jhlrc*  Wlth  Pale  ale-  The  temperature  was  maintained  at 
UK)  ,  and  the  contents  were  churned,  to  imitatg  the  movements  of  the 
stomach  during  the  process  of  digestion.  The  following  table  gives  the  result- 


Finely  minced 
beef. 

2d 

Hour. 

4th 

Hour. 

6th 

Hour. 

8th 

Hour. 

lOth 

Hour. 

I. 

Gastric  juice  and 
water. 

Beef 

becomes 

opaque. 

Digesting 

and 

separating. 

Beef 

much 

lessened. 

Broken 
up  into 
shreds. 

Dissolved 
like  soap. 

II. 

Gastric  juice  and 
alcohol. 

No 

alteration 

perceptible. 

Slightly 
opaque  but 
beef  un¬ 
changed. 

Slight 
coating 
on  beef. 

No 

visible 

change. 

Beef  solid 
on  cooling; 

pepsine 

precipitated. 

III. 

Gastric  juice  and 
pale  ale. 

No  change.^ 

Cloudy  with 
fur  on  beef. 

Beef 

partly 

loosened. 

No 

further 

change. 

No  diges¬ 
tion  ;  on  cool¬ 
ing,  pepsine 
precipitated. 

8* 


90  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


alcohol  retards  the  oxidation  of  the  blood.  Prof.  Miller  says : 
“  Prout  and  others  have  experimentally  ascertained  that  less 
carbonic  acid  than  usual  is  evoked  during  the  presence  of  alcohol 
in  the  blood,  and  that  that  fluid  is  decidedly  darker  than  in 
persons  untainted  by  the  poison.  It  would  almost  seem  as  if 
alcohol,  circulating  in  the  blood  to  a  considerable  extent,  sus¬ 
pended  for  the  time  the  chemico-vital  processes  proper  to  the 
fluid  in  its  normal  state.  Thus  the  oxidation  of  the  phosphorus 
of  waste  tissue  is  sometimes  so  interrupted  by  alcohol,  that  the 
body  of  the  drunkard  smells  of  phosphorus,  his  breath  presents 
a  visible  phosphorescence,  and  his  urine  is  luminous  in  the 
dark.” — “  Alcohol ,  its  place  and  power.'" 

Alcohol,  then,  is  not  food  ;  for  it  Neither  warms  nor  nourishes 
the  body,  nor  aids  in  doing  so.  In  fact,  it  possesses  no  one  of 
the  great  distinctive  features  of  an  aliment,  and  the  body  always 
treats  it  as  a  foreign  irritating  substance,  to  be  got  rid  of  as  soon 
as  possible. 

A  distinctive  feature  of  food  is,  that  it  is  used  up  in  the  body, 
and  never  reappears  in  the  same  form.  Having  passed  through 
various  changes  in  the  body,  and  having,  by  these  changes  pro¬ 
duced  force  and  heat,  it  is  reduced  into  lower  and  simpler  forms 
of-  matter,  which  are  thrown  out  of  the  body  as  carbonic  acid,  and 
urea,  etc.  -  Now  the  experiments  of  Lallemand,  Perrin,  and  Duroy, 
and  of  Dr.  E.  Smith,  prove  that  little,  if  any  alcohol,  is  trans¬ 
formed  in  the  body ;  and  that  some  of  it  is  driven  out  in  exactly 
the  same  form  as  it  entered.  By  means  of  the  chromic  acid 
test,  which  is  good  when  rightly  applied,  they  were  enabled  to 
delect  alcohol  unchanged  in  all  the  different  excreta ,  during  many 
hours  after  its  imbibition  in  moderate  quantities  ;  but  in  no 
instance  were  they  able  to  detect  its  derivatives ,  aldehyde  and 
acetic  acid.  It  is  true,  M.  Lallemand  states,  that  acetic  acid  is 
sometimes  produced  in  the  stomach  from  the  transformation  of 
alcohol  bv  the  gastric  juice;  but  Dr.  E.  Smith  calls  this  in 
question — “The  presence  of  increased  acidity  in  the  stomach  is 
very  common,  quite  apart  from  the  use  of  alcohols,  and  follows 
the  use  of  anything  which  disturbs  the  digestion  ;  it  is  not,  how- 
ever,  produced  from  such  agencies,  but  is  secreted  more  abun¬ 
dantly  under  their  influence*  It  is  by  no  means  common  to  have 
any  evidence  of  the  presence  of  increased  acidity  in  the  stomach 
after  the  ordinary  use  of  alcohols,  and  hence  it  is,  on  that  mode 

*  An  important  distinction,  which  also  applies  to  the  formation  of  fat  in 
drinkers. — Ed. 


POISONED  WATER. 


91 


of  reasoning,  far  more  likely  that,  when  it  occurs,  it  is  produced, 
not  from  the  transformation  of  the  alcohol,  but  from  the  process 
by  which  the  acidity  occurs  in  the  ordinary  conditions  where 
alcohol  is  absent.” — Brit.  Med  Journal ,  Nov.  2d.  1861. 

The  following  are  Mr.  Perrin’s  final  conclusions: — “Alcohol 
may  unreservedly  be  stated  not  to  be  an  aliment,  because— 1st, 
it  exists  unchanged  in  the  blood  ;  2d,  no  trace  of  its  transform¬ 
ation  or  destruction  can  be  discovered  ;  3d,  it  is  eliminated 
unchanged  by  all  the  excretory  organs  ;  4th,  the  phenomena  it 
gives  rise  to.  in  whatever  dose  taken,  its  accumulation  in  the 
nervous  system,  and  its  well  known  toxical  and  pathogenic 
action,  demonstrates  it  to  be  a  modifier  of  nervous  force,  and 
negatives  the  alimentary  character  attributed  to  it;*  5th,  the  objec¬ 
tion  drawn  from  the  inability  to  reproduce  the  total  quantity 
taken,  cannot  be  received  by  physiologists.  At  most,  this  shows 
that  some  portion  becomes  lost  during  the  peregrination  of  the 
alcohol  through  the  economy,  but  it  in  no  wise  proves  that  it  has 
been  burnt  or  destroyed.” 

Dr.  Markham  sums  up  as  follows: — “It  (alcohol)  is,  to  all 
intents,  a  foreign  agent,  which  the  body  gets  rid  of  as  soon 
as  IT  CAN.  .  .  Alcohol  is  not  a  supporter  of  combustion.  Part, 
probably  the  whole  of  it,  escapes  from  the  body;  and  none  of  it, 
so  far  as  we  know,  is  assimilated.  It  is,  therefore,  not  a  food  in 
the  age  of  science.” — Brit.  Med.  Journal ,  Nov.  23 d,  1861. 

We  will  now  consider  some  of  the  more  plausible  objections 
urged  against  our  positions  by  the  defenders  of  the  bottle. 

1. — “Though  alcohol  be  notin  itself  a  food,  yetthe  beverages  contain¬ 
ing  it  are.  since  they  contain  water,  holding  in  solution  a  considerable 
amount  of  nuritive  aliment.” 

True,  these  beverages  contain  water,  but  it  is  poisoned  water, 
and  stands  related  to  the  animal  economy  as  sewage  water, 
which,  of  course,  we  should  never  think  of  drinking.  We  do  not 
then  object  to  the  water  as  water,  but  as  water  impregnated  with 
poison.  It  is  also  true  that  these  beverages  hold  in  solution 
certain  nutritive  material,  in  very  minute  quantities;  not  at  all 
sufficient  to  rank  them  among  the  foods.  Homoeopathy  may  do 
very  well  when  applied  to  medicine,  but  it  wont  at  all  answer 
when  applied  to  food.  For  where  is  the  person  that  can  live 
upon  infinitesimal  portions  of  aliment? 

*  In  all  definitions  of  food,  this  condition  must  be  considered.  It  must  be 
innocent. — Ed. 


92  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


Dr.  E.  Lankester  says  : — “Beer  contains  but  one  per  cent,  of 
nutritive  matter,  and  is,  therefore,  not  a  thing  to  be  taken  for 
nutrition  at  all.” 

Dr.  E.  Johnson  says  : — “  If  you  evaporate  a  glass  of  wine  on  a 
shallow  plate,  whatever  solid  matter  it  contains  will  be  left  dry. 
and  this  will  be  found  to  answer  to  about  as  much  as  may  he 
laid  on  the  extreme  point  of  a  pen-krrife  blade ;  and  a  portion, 
by  no  means  all,  but  a  portion  of  this  solid  matter  I  will  readily 
concede,  is  capable  of  nourishing  the  body — a  portion  which  is 
about  equal  to  one-third  of  the  flour  contained  in  a  single  grain 
of  wheat.” 

Prof.  Lyon  Playfair  says: — “100  parts  of  ordinary  beer  or 
porter  contains  9‘5  parts  of  solid  matter,  of  which  only  0  6  parts, 
[half  of  one  part]  consists  of  flesh-forming  matters  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  it  takes  1,666  parts  of  ordinary  beer  or  porter  to  obtain 
one  part  of  nourshing  matter.  .  .  Beer  is  not  taken  as  a  beverage 
for  its  nutritious  ingredients,  but  wholly  for  its  alcohol.”*  Of 
barley,  from  which  beer  is  manufactured,  he  thus  speaks: — “  A 
good  specimen  of  barley-meal,  with  its  husks  mixed,  I  found  to 
contain  as  much  as  14  lbs.  of  albumen,  or  flesh-forming  principle, 
in  everg  100  lbs.,  while  the  substances  adapted  to  support  the 
body  amounted  to  68  lbs.  in  the  100  lbs. 

Baron  Liebig  informs  us  that,  “730  gallons  of  the  best  Bavar¬ 
ian  beer  contains  exactly  as  much  nourishment  as  a  5  lb.  loaf, 
or  3  lbs.  of  beef.”  So  that  if  a  man  consume  daily  8  quarts  of 
beer,  he  will  in  the  course  of  a  year  have  imbibed  as  much 
nourishment  from  that  source,  as  can  be  obtained  in  a  6 d.  loaf, 
or  2s.  of  beef.f  Now  to  make  the  above  quantity  of  beer, 
1,200  lbs.  of  barley  must  be  converted  into  malt,  and  destroyed  ; 
a  quantity  sufficient  to  feed  two  men  for  a  whole  year!  Further; 
this  nutritive  aliment,  small  as  it  is,  is  presented  to  us  in  its 
very  worst  form.  The  extractive  matter  of  beer  consists  prin¬ 
cipally  of  gum,  which  the  stomach  can  only  very  partially  digest. 
If  you  give  a  person  40  grains  of  gum  you  can  detect  38  grains 
of  it  unchanged  in  the  foeces.  And  then  this  extractive,  contains, 
besides  all  the  adulterating  ingredients,  most  of  which  are 
liighlv  deleterious,  and  the  whole  is  saturated  with  alcohol.  In 
fine,  beer  and  wine  contain  very  small  quantities  of  nutritive 
material,  and  that  corrupted  and  poisoned. 

*  See  Dr.  Mackenzie's  Condensed  Temperance  Facts  for  Christians. 

f  See  Dr.  Lee’s  Glass  of  pale  ale ,  (185G.) 


NO  POISON  IN  FOOD. 


93 


2. — "If  we  reject  intoxicating  liquors  on  account  of  the  alcohol  they 
contain,  we  must  also,  if  consistent,  abstain  from  the  use  of  bread,  as  it 
also  contains  alcohol.” 

Well-baked  bread  does  not  contain  any  alcohol.  During  the 
process  of  dough-fermentation,  a  small  quantity  of  alcohol  is 
formed;  so  small,  indeed,  as  to  be  scarcely  appreciable.  This, 
however,  is  so  completely  expelled  during  the  process  of  baking 
by  the  heat  of  the  oven,  that  in  a  loaf  of  well-baked  bread,  not 
even  a  trace  of  alcohol  can  be  detected.* 

3 — "  Many  useful  articles  of  diet  contain  poison,  and  if  we  reject  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquors  on  that  account,  we  ought  also  to  reject  those.” 

Water  is  cited  as  an  example,  and  the  objectors  inform  us  that  we  can¬ 
not  drink  any  quantity  of  cold  water  without  swallowing  down  a  whole 
menagerie  of  animalculae,  and  a  whole  nursery  of  microscopic  plants. 

Now,  if  water  indeed  contains  poison,  we  at  least  don’t  drink 
it  on  that  account ,  but  try  to  secure  it  as  pure  as  possible.  Not  so 
with  the  drinkers.  They  drink  intoxicating  liquor  solely  because 
of  the  contained  poison,  and  were  we  to  distil  out  the  poison, 
they  would  not  touch  the  liquor.  Moreover,  the  animalculae,  and 
microscopic  plants  (as  oxytricha ,  paracemium ,  filaments  of  con- 
fervce ,  and  stems  of  authcephysce )  are  not  poisonous ;  nay,  for 
anything  we  know ,  they  may  be  as  wholesome  food  as  beef  and 
potatoes.  Gold  fish,  at  any  rate,  can  live  a  considerable  time 
upon  them.  These  animalculae  and  plants,  however,  indicate 
the  presence  of  organic  matter,  in  a  state  of  putrescence  or  fer¬ 
mentation  in  the  water,  and  it  is  here  where  the  precise  danger 
lies.  But  as  we  are  taught  by  instinct  to  abstain  from  putrid 
meat,  and  decomposing  vegetables,  so  are  we  taught  to  reject 
water  containing  them.  Again  :  ordinary  food  does  not  contain 
poison,  though,  of  course  they  contain  the  elements.  Salt,  for 
instance,  contains  chlorine,  a  suffocating  gas,  and  sodium,  a 
poisonous  mineral;  but  salt  is  neither  chlorine  nor  sodium. 

*  Dr.  E.Lankester  says:— “From  my  own  experiments,  I  conclude  that 
the  alcohol  formed  is  exceedingly  small.  I  have  taken  dough  and  fermented 
it, and  put  it  into  a  vessel,  and  tried  to  ascertain  thequantity  of  carbonic-ncid- 
gas  given  off.  But  as  the  broad  rose,  no  carbonic-acid-gas  escaped,  and  all 
that  was  formed  was  contained  in  the  bread  [dough].  Now  the  quantity  con¬ 
tained  in  a  loaf  of  bread  is  really  very  small.  I  dwell  upon  this,  because  there 
has  been  a  statement  made,  that  an  fermented  bread  was  a  great  saving  of  the 
starch. — that  fermentation  was  a  wicked  process,  on  account  of  the  waste  of 
the  starch.  It  is  also  stated  that  gluten  is  destroyed.  This  is  not  the  case.  It 
is  aUo  stated,  as  a  proof  of  the  destruction  of  the  gluten,  that  ammonia  was 
formed  in  the  baking  of  the  bread.  I  have  not  been  able  to  detect  any  during 
the  rising  of  bread,  and  I  believe  that  also  to  be  an  error.”  As  the  bread, 
however,  is  permeated  with  gas  cells,  a  corresponding  quantity  must  have  been 
formed,  even  if  not  detectable  by  the  Doctor.— Ed. 


94  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


In  intoxicating  liquor  the  poison  exists  as  alcohol.  If  its 
elements  were  combined  differently ,  it  would  be  no  longer 
alcohol,  but  something  else,  even  as  chlorine  in  salt  is  no  longer 
chlorine,  but  an  essential  part  of  salt. 

4. — But  alcoholic  liquors  must  in  some  way  or  other  act  as  food,  since 
those  consuming  them  eat  less  than  those  who  abstain.  Dr.  Inman 
says: — “  If,  when  I  dine,  drinking  water  alone,  I  require  four  good  slices 
of  mutton,  or  other  food,  ere  my  natural  wants  are  stayed,  and  while 
so  living  retain  my  usual  bulk  and  strength  [?] ;  and  if  when  drinking  a 
pint  of  ale  with  my  dinner,  two  such  slices  of  meat  suffice  for  my  wants, 
and  while  so  living  my  bulk  and  strength  remain  the  same  [?],  is  it 
not  clear  that  the  pint  of  ale  contains  as  much  nourishment  as  two 
slices  of  pork  ?”  •'* 

This  by  no  means  follows ;  for  though  the  use  of  beer  is  quite 
compatible  with  increase  of  bulk,  seeing  that  it  prevents  the 
elimination  of  water  and  the  combustion  of  fat  and  waste  tissue, 
and  may  thus  bloat  and  puff  out  a  man,  yet  all  experiments  and 
experience  go  to  prove  that  those  who  live  in  part  upon  beer,  lack 
the  strength  and  power  of  endurance  possessed  by  abstainers  ;  so 
that,  if  any  sickness  or  accident  befal  them,  they  prove  far  more 
troublesome  to  the  doctors.  Moreover,  though  teetotalers  possess 
uniformly  better  appetites  than  drinkers,  does  this  prove  that  the 
beer  taken  is  a  substitute  for  the  portion  of  food  which  would 
otherwise  have  been  consumed?  If  so,  then  tobacco-juice  is 
very  good  food,  since  smokers  do  not  at  all  possess  such  good 
appetites  as  non-smokers.  We  knew  a  man,  a  smoker,  who  for 
thirty  years  had  regaled  himself  with  the  weed.  He,  however, 
took  it  into  his  head  to  lay  aside  the  pipe.  Before  doing  so  he 
ascertained  exactly  how  much  on  an  average  it  cost  per  week  to 
maintain  him  in  food.  Upon  laying  aside  the  pipe,  he  informed 
his  wife  that  if  a  sum  equal  to  that  expended  upon  tobacco 
were  really  saved,  he  would  lay  it  aside  .and  purchase  a  pig. 
Though  several  years  have  elapsed,  that  pig  has  not  yet  been 
purchased.  The  man’s  appetite  so  greatly  improved  that  the 
tobacco  money  was  all  of  it  spent  upon  extra  food.  But  does 
this  prove  that  tobacco  smoking,  during  all  those  years,  was  an 
equivalent  for  the  food  which  would  otherwise  have  been  taken? 
And  yet  if  this  objection  have  any  force,  such  must  have  been 
the  case.  Are  we  to  make  no  allowance  for  evident  improve¬ 
ment  in  health  and  spirits?  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  those 
teetotalers  who  formerly  lived  in  part  upon  beer,  all  but  unani- 


DRUNKENNESS  AND  GLUTTONY. 


95 


mously  confess  that  since  they  adopted  abstinent  principles, 
their  appetites,  health,  and  enjoyment,  have  vastly  improved. 

5 — Dr.  Inman  further  says: — “For  any  one  who  wishes  to  convince 
himself  of  the  strict  worth,  say  of  ale,  let  him  first  dine  without  it  for  a 
week,  then  for  another  week  take  his  pint  daily,  and  repeat  the  process 
for  the  sake  of  certainty.  If  he  be  in  good  health,  he  will  find  that  when 
he  drinks  water,  he  will  eat  double  the  quantity  he  does  when  he  takes 
beer,  and  he  may  then  elect  whether  he  prefers  to  run  the  risk  of  being 
a  glutton  or  a  drunkard.  I  will  not  say  that  either  is  probable,  but  I 
do  know  [?]  that  teetotalers  have  killed  themselves  by  over-eating,  just 
as  tipplers  have  died  with  over-drinking.” 

We  demur  to  this  fallacious  mode  of  conducting  the  experi¬ 
ment.  If  a  man  one  week  takes  a  pint  of  beer  per  day  and  eats 
less  during  that  week,  his  body  is  impoverished.  If  the  week 
following  he  abstains  from  beer  and  eats  double,  why  the  body 
is  merely  making  up  for  the  mischief  and  starvation  inflicted 
the  week  before.  But  drunkenness  is  a  far  more  serious  affair 
than  gluttony.  Gluttony  does  not  nerve  the  assassin’s  arm  ; 
drunkenness  does.  Gluttony  does  not  fill  our  gaols,  our  lunatic 
asylums,  and  our  workhouses;  but  drunkenness  does.  Hence, 
if  I  must  take  my  chance  of  risks,  I  will  be  a  teetotaler,  and 
incur  the  risk  of  becoming  a  glutton,  rather  than  take  beer  and 
incur  the  risk  of  becoming  a  drunkard. 

It  is  not  true,  however,  that  teetotalers  are  more  prone  to 
gluttony  than  drinkers.  The  fact  is  the  other  way. 

Many  drinkers  over-eat  themselves  before  they  are  aware  of  it, 
having  deadened  the  sensibility  of  the  stomach  with  alcohol. 
And  then,  when  they  begin  to  feel  the  burden  of  an  overloaded 
stomach,  they  take  a  little  brandy  to  aid  a  weak  digestion ! 

Prof.  Miller  says  : — “  If  you  have  eaten  salmon  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  require  brandy,  it  is  a  sign  that  you  have  eaten  too 
much  salmon ,  and  if,  in  consequence,  a  remedy  is  necessary,  you 
have  selected  the  wrong  one.  Dip  your  hand  again  into  the  bag 
of  the  Materia  Medica,  and  if  an  emetic  should  turn  up,  you  will 
find  it  infinitely  more  appropriate.” 

There  are  two  reasons  why  the  appetites  of  drinkers  are  not 
so  uniformly  good  as  those  of  teetotalers.  (1)  Their  digestive 
organs  are  impaired,  and  weakened  by  the  imbibition  of  alcohol  ; 
and,  (2)  The  processes  of  animal  life  are  carried  on  with  less 
regularity  and  vigor,  from  the  same  cause  ;  so  that  the  body  is 
continually  taking  up  and  using  over  again,  waste  material  re- 


96  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


tained  in  the  circulation,  and  which  ought  long  ago  to  have  been 
excreted  from  the  system. 

6. — Again : — “  Cases  are  of  frequent  occurrence  where,  for  weeks 
together,  no  solid  food  has  been  taken,  and<  the  patients  have  been 
supported,  and  kept  alive  during  the  whole  of  that  time  entirely  upon 
brandy.” 

Brandy,  as  generally  used,  contains  nearly  60  per  cent,  of 
water.  Hence,  to  be  correct,  we  must  say  that  the  patient  was 
supported,  and  kept  alive  upon  water  and  alcohol.  But  which 
was  the  most  sustaining?  the  water — or  the  alcohol  mixed  with 
it?  We  know  several  cases  where,  for  weeks  together,  patients 
have  been  kept  alive  with  brandy  minus  alcohol,  that  is,  with 
water  alone,  but  little  solid  food  having  been  taken  during  the 
*  whole  of  that  time,  and  yet  ultimately  the  patients  recovered. 

It  is  utterly  impossible  then  for  medical  men  to  prove  that,  in 
the  brandy  cases  cited,  the  patients  were  kept  alive  by  the  brandy, 
since  if  no  alcohol  had  been  given,  they  would  probably  have 
got  on  just  as  well,  if  not  a  great  deal  better. 

Even  should  we  admit,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  patients 
have  been  kept  alive  apparently  by  the  administration  of  brandy, 
yet  the  objector  cannot  prove  that  they  were  really  nourished  and 
fed  bv  it.  As  Dr.  Markham,  F.  B.  S.,  says  : — “  The  clinical  facts 
which  some  writers  have  produced  as  demonstrative  of  the  food- 
nature  of  alcohol,  are,  as  such,  worth  absolutely  nothing.  The 
proof  here  must  be  rigid — one  of  the  scale-and-balance  kind.  Let 
us  be  told  what  the  weight  of  the  patient  was  before  the  experi¬ 
ment  was  commenced,  and  what  after .  Let  us  know  how  much 
water  was  swallowed  with  the  alcohol,  and  be  satisfied  that 
nothing  but  diluted  alcohols  were  taken  while  the  experiments 
were  going  on — that  rigid  abstinence  from  [all]  other  things  was 
positively  maintained.  The  analyses  of  such  facts  would  enable 
us  to  arrive  at  something  positive  upon  the  subject.  We  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that,  to  call  alcohol  food,  in  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge  of  its  effects,  is  an  abuse  of  knowledge. 

u  Those  who  affirm  it  to  be,  should  give  us  something  like  a 
tangible  proof  of  the  fact — something  beyond  the  mere  vpgue 
surmises  of  their  own  opinions.  Let  them  show  that  a  body  fed 
6olely  on  alcoholic  drinks  for  several  days,  has  gained,  or  at  least 
not  lost  in  weight;  and  they  will  have  some  facts  upon  which  to 
found  the  assertion.  But  to  say  that  an  emaciated  creature  who 
rises  from  his  bed  of  sickness,  and  has  swallowed  during  his 


DR.  E.  LANKESTER’S  APPEAL  TO  GENERAL  USAGE.  97 

sickness  large  quantities  of  alcohol  and  water,  is  a  living  proof 
that  alcohol  is  food,  is  manifestly  an  unfounded  assumption.” — 
4  Brit.  Med.  Journal ,  June  1  Ath,  1862. 

Failing  in  special  reasons,  the  objectors  attempt  to  defend 
their  position  by  an  appeal  to  general  usage,  and  universal 
custom  ? 

Dr.  E  Lankester  says: — "  I  will  not  enter  into  the  question  of  whether 
we  ought  to  call  alcoholic  beverages  food.  It  is  sufficient  for  my  purpose, 
that  in  one  form  or  another,  it  enters  largely  into  the  diet  of  [some  of]  man¬ 
kind,  and  the  question  is,  as  to  whether  such  use  is,  on  the  whole,  benefi¬ 
cial  or  deleterious.” 

This  is  quite  true ;  words  in  themselves  are  nothing — facts 
and  effects  are  everything.  Now,  first,  an  argument  drawn  from 
general  usage,  and  universal  custom,  is  just  as  conclusive  for  the 
dietetic  value  of  tobacco ,  opium ,  arsenic ,  or  hashish ,  the  use  of 
which,  however,  though  sanctioned  by  custom,  is,  nevertheless, 
condemned  by  impartial  science. 

Secondly. — Dr.  Lankester,  the  objector,  plays  upon  the  words 
health,  disease,  food,  medicine,  and  poison.  In  one  place  he 
calls  alcohol  a  “food-poison,”  [Diet,  p.  356);  a  poisoned-food 
would  be  more  to  the  point.  In  his  classification  of  food — 
coined  apparently  to  meet  his  theory — he  divides  food  into  three 
classes.  1st.  Alimentary,  or  necessary,  as  water,  sugar,  albumen, 
etc.  2d.  Medicinal ,  or  auxiliary,  as  alcohol,  tobacco,  alkaloids, 
opium,  etc.  3d.  Accessory,  as  cellulose,  gum,  gelatine.  He 
calls  alcohol  and  opium  medicine,  because  they  act  as  many 
medicines  do,  and  meet  rather  those  wants  of  the  system  which 
resulted  from  a  tendency  to  a  diseased  condition.  [Diet,  p.  179.) 
No  foods  are  medicinal  to  the  healthy  body,  and  no  medicines 
are  foods  to  it.  In  diseased  states,  foods  may  act  abnormally, 
and  medicines  may  act  as  foods,  by  supplying  some  of  those 
elements  in  which  the  blood  may  be  deficient. 

The  following  remarks  of  Dr.  Lankester  are,  therefore,  very 
true : — “  The  more  one  investigates  the  relation  of  food  to  the 
human  system,  the  greater  must  be  the  conviction  that  food 
is  not  only  capable  of  maintaining  healthy  life,  but  by  proper 
modification,  can  be  made  the  means  of  curing  disease.  Our 
life  is  so  essentially  dependent  on  food  that  we  may  increase  its 
activity  by  increase  of  food,  and  decrease  it  by  decrease  of  food, 
and  change  its  character  by  a  change  of  food.  Diseases  manifest 
themselves  in  an  increase,  or  decrease,  or  a  change  of  vital 
9 


98  DIETETIC  VALUE  OF  ALCOHOLIC  BEVERAGES. 


action.  It  must  be  evident,  therefore,  that  in  the  management 
of  food,  we  have  the  great  means  for  the  cure,  and  removal  of 
disease.”  (p.  354.)  When,  however,  he  asks,  “Who  is  to  distin¬ 
guish  the  narrow  line,  even  if  that  exists,  which  separates  health 
from  disease?”  and  adds,  “a  man  who  has  waited  two  hours 
longer  than  is  usual  for  his  dinner,  is  sliding  into  a  state  of 
disease  which  will  kill  him  in  a  limited  number  of  hours,”  we 
can  only  smile.  To  call  a  hungry  man  a  diseased  man,  is 
surely  to  palter  with  words.  The  famine-stricken  may  bo 
diseased,  but  not  the  merely  hungry.  It  is  like  calling  warmth  a 
“slide  into  burning.”  We  know  that  foods  may  become  medicines, 
and  that  medicines  may  merge  int;o  poisons.  That  health  may 
gradually  slide  into  disease,  so  that  the  exact  line  may  be  most 
difficult  to  determine.  But,  for  all  this,  the  differences  between 
health  and  disease,  food  and  medicine,  are  quite  sufficiently  clear 
to  satisfy  any  reasonable  mind,  and  to  enable  us  to  arrive  at  the 
conclusion  that  alcohol  is  not  food. 

But  what  does  Dr.  Lankester  seek  to  evolve  out  of  these  hair- 
spatting  distinctions?  Why,  “That  our  civilization  may  have 
brought  us  to  a  condition,  which,  as  compared  with  that  of 
gorillas  and  savages,  may  be  said  to  be  morbid  or  diseased,  and 
that,  in  order  to  remove  the  tendency  of  this  cond'tion,  to  bring 
on  more  serious  departures  from  health,  doses  of  alcohol,  varying 
from  half  an  ounce  to  two  ounces,  every  twenty-four  hours,  may 
bo  most  healthful  and  beneficial!”  Is,  then,  a  high  state  of 
civilization  incompatible  with  the  development  of  man's  physical 
energies,  or  conservation  of  his  health?  No! — civilization  is  to 
man,  what  proper  soil  and  a  congenial  clime  is  to  a  plant.  If 
you  wish  to  bring  up  a  plant  to  its  highest  degree  of  perfection, 
you  pay  great  attention  to  its  cultivation,  and  surround  it  with 
those  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  fitted  to  produce  the  desired 
end.  A  high  state  of  civilization  fulfils  these  conditions  of  develop¬ 
ment  in  reference  to  man,  and  is,  therefore,  perfectly  compatible 
with  the  fullest  and  freest  development  of  man’s  physical  energy, 
as  well  as  of  his  moral  and  intellectual  excellence. 

That  men,  called  civilized,  suffer  from  nervous  prostration  and 
disease,  and  that  thousands  live  in  a  state  constantly  bordering 
upon  disease,  we  admit,  but  this  arises  from  the  savagery  found 
in  connection  with  our  imperfect  civilization,  and  principally  the 
savage  custom  of  drinking  alcoholic  beverages.  Exclude  these 
savage  elements  of  our  imperfect  civilization,  and  man  will 


STRONG  DRINK  NOT  NECESSARY  TO  CIVILIZATION.  90 


attain  to  a  still  higher  degree  of  civilization  by  cultivating  his 
whole  nature. 

Against  the  vague  reasoning  of  this  objector,  we  will  put  tho 
deliberate  judgments  of  two  celebrated  physicians. 

Prof.  Parkes,  M.  D.,  sa}rs  : — “  I  must  candidly  say,  with  regard 
to  the  stronger  alcoholic  liquids,  that  what  study  I  have  been 
able  to  give  to  this  subject,  and  the  causation  and  treatment  of 
disease  generally,  has  led  me  more  and  more  to  adopt  the  views 
of  Carpenter  and  others,  that  the  use  of  alcoholics  in  health  is 
not  only  unnecessary,  but  absolutely  injurious.” 

Dr.  Markham,  E.  R.S.,  says  : — “  Well  would  it  be  for  the  practice 
of  medicine  if  every  one  would  do  awray  writh  that  very  common 
sentence  passed  upon  this  or  that  medicinal  airent — that  it,  at 
all  events,  will  do  no  harm  if  it  do  no  good.  There  is  a  patent 
error  in  that  saying,  for  a  little  consideration  will  show  us  that 
every  medicine — that  is,  every  exciter  of  an  abnormal  action  in 
the  body — must  do  harm  pro  tanto,  if  it  do  not  do  a  service  by 
exciting  such  abnormal  action.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  read 
fairly  the  works  of  the  distinguished  physiologists  who  have 
discussed  this  question,  without  feeling  that  they  have  been, 
spite  of  themselves  as  it  were,  driven,  by  their  honest  adhesion 
to  the  legitimate  consequences  flowing  from  their  premises,  to 
the  conclusion  that  alcohol  is  unnecessary  and  injurious  to  the 
human  body.” — Brit.  Med.  Journal,  October  bth,  1861. 


100 


BACCHUS  DETHRONED. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOLIC  LIQUORS  WITH  ESPECIAL 
REFERENCE  TO  MODERATE  DRINKING. 

Prop.  IIT.—  “  That  all  alcoholic  drinks  are  injurious  to  the 
health  of  the  body  and  the  mind ,  even  when  taken  in  great 
moderation.'1 

Physiology  treats  of  the  different  functions  of  the  healthy 
body,  and  points  out  the  offices  of  each  organ  in  the  animal 
economy.  Preliminary  to  seeking  to  determine  whether  the 
action  ofalcohol  upon  the  different  organs  and  functions  of  the 
body  he  innocent  and  beneficial,  or  injurious  and  destructive, 
we  shall  investigate  its  physical  properties.  Etliylic  alcohol ,  or 
“  a  air  its  of  wine,”  is  the  objectionable  element  of  our  intoxicating 
liquors,  by  whatsoever  name  they  may  be  called;  and  from  this 
agent  these  beverages  derive  their  strange  power  of  fascination. 
Deprive  them  of  their  proportion  of  spirits,  and  their  charm 
vanishes ;  people  will  refuse  them  as  being  unpalatable,  and 
even  nauseous. 

Fermented  and  spirituous  liquors  differ  from  each  other  mainly 
in  their  proportion  of  alcohol  and  water,  but  they  differ  also  in 
coloring  matter  and  flavor,  sugar  and  gummy  extractive,  and 
in  various  foreign  and  adulterating  ingredients  added  during  the 
process  of  manufacture,  or  afterwards  by  the  vendor. 

Prof.  Braudes’  analysis  shows  the  proportion  in  which  spirit 


(specific 

gravity  ’825)  exists,  in 

100  measures 

of  the  following 

liquors : 

SPIRITS. 

Teneriffe . 

....  19-79 

per  cent. 

"Whisky .. 

.  54-11  per  cent. 

Sherry . 

.  1917 

II 

Rum . 

.  53  63 

Bucellas . 

.  18-49 

II 

Brandy... 

.  53  39 

Claret . 

.  1510 

1C 

Hollands 

.  51-60 

Burgundy..  .... 

....  14-57 

If 

WINES. 

Champagne . 

....  12-80 

If 

Raisin . 

.  25  12 

Gooseberry . 

....  11-84 

II 

Madeira  . 

.  2417 

Hock . . 

....  12  08 

II 

Port . 

. . .  2296 

Orange . 

....  1126 

If 

Cape. ...... i 

. . . .  2051  *• 

Elder . ..* . 

o 

ALCOHOL  NOT  A  PRODUCT  OF  GROWTH. 


101 


Cider . 

Perry . 

Burton  Ale . 

Edinburgh  Ale 


ALES, 

7' 54  per  cent. 
726  “ 

8  83  " 

620  “ 


ETC. 

Brown  Stout ..... 
London  Porter. 
Small  Beer . . 


G  80  per  cent. 
420 
128 


Even  the  British  and  home-made  wines  contain  a  considerable 
proportion  of  alcohol,  and  are  not,  therefore,  teetotal  drinks ; 
raisin-wine ,  indeed,  contains  a  larger  proportion  than  port,  while 
elder  wine  almost  equals  the  strongest  of  ales. 

Alcohol,  in  the  above  liquors,  is  not  in  a  state  of  “chemical 
combination,”  as  some  people  suppose,*  but  it  exists  in  a  free 
state,  that  is,  in  a  state  of  simple  mixture  only. 

The  term  alcohol,  originally  limited  to  one  substance,  viz : 
“spirit  of  wine,”  is  now  applied  to  a  large  number  of  organic 
compounds,  many  of  which  in  their  external  characters  exhibit 
but  little  resemblance  to  ordinary  alcohol.  They  are  all,  how¬ 
ever,  analogously  constituted,  “having  the  composition  of 
saturated  hydro-carbons,  in  which  one  or  more  of  the  hydrogen 
atoms  are  replaced  by  hydroxyl.” 

Alcohols  are  classified  in  series,  according  to  the  number 
of  equivalents  of  hydroxyl  they  contain. 

Among  the  Monatomic  alcohols  are  Methyl ,  C  II  4  0;  Ethyl, 
C  2  II  6  0 ;  and  Propyl ,  C  3  II  8  O.  Then  there  is  Amylic  alcohol 
containing  Amyl,  an  acrid  volatile  oil,  made  by  destructive  dis¬ 
tillation  from  the  starch  of  potatoes,  etc. 

Ethyl  alcohol  is  the  lightest  and  most  ethereal  of  the  series. 
"When  intoxicating  liquors  are  adulterated  with  any  of  the 
heavier  alcohols,  though  they  may  not  intoxicate  so  rapidly,  yet 
they  are  more  stupefactive,  and  people  drinking  these  liquors 
are  much  longer  in  recovering  from  a  fit  of  drunkenness.  A  few 
years  ago  it  was  discovered  that  a  good  deal  of  the  trashy  stuff 
called  “  port,”  supplied  to  dispensary  patients,  was  adulterated 
with  methylated  spirit,  obtained  by  the  destructive  distillation 
of  wood. 

Ethyl,  the  intoxicating  principle  of  our  intoxicating  liquors,  is 
not  the  product  of  grow'th.  It  cannot  be  found  in  the  purple 
grape — the  golden  corn — the  rosy  apple — or  the  juicy  pear. 
Prior  to  fermentation  we  may  apply  to  the  expressed  juices  of 
these  fruits  our  most  delicate  chemical  tests,  but  no  alcohol  can 

*  If  it  were,  it  would  not  be  alcohol.  See  the  absurd  tract  of  W.  Cooke, 
D.D.— Ed. 

9* 


102  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 

we  discover.  Alcohol  is  in  reality  a  product  of  decomposition. 
"When  these  juices  begin  to  ferment,  under  the  influence  of  the 
yeast  fungus,  and  to  turn  to  rottenness,  then,  and  not  till  then, 
alcohol  is  generated  out  of  the  destruction  of  the  organic  sugar. 

When  death  ensues,  then  certain  natural  forces,  which,  in  the 
living  state  were  resisted,  come  into  operation,  and  disintegration 
begins,  and  continues  till  the  organism  returns  to  its  original 
elements.  “  Dust  thou  art,  and  to  dust  shalt  thou  return,”  is  as 
true  of  the  world  of  plants  as  of  the  world  of  animals.  So,  when 
fruits  become  crushed,  then  these  constituents,  albumen  and 
sugar,  which  exist  apart  in  different  cells,  become  mingled  by 
the  rupture  of  these  cells,  their  contents  become  exposed  to  the 
atmosphere,  charged  with  the  spores  of  the  yeast  plant,  which 
soon  begins  to  feed  upon  it,  and  to  be  visible  by  the  aid  of  a 
microscope.  The  change  progresses  until  the  albumen  is  con¬ 
verted  into  yeast. 

Beer-yeast  contains  two  species  of  fungus,  called  Torula  Cere- 
visice,  and  Penicillium  Glaucum. 

The  yeast  plant  acting  upon  the  sugar  causes  it  to  split  up — * 
the  temperature  rises,  carbonic-acid-gas,  called  in  chemical 
language  carbon- dioxide ,  is  given  off,  and  alcohol  is  also  formed. 
Thus  by  decomposition,  sugar  is  converted  into  two  new  pro¬ 
duce — carbonic-acid-gas  and  alcohol.  This  is  the  first  stage  of 
the  decomposition  of  sugar.  If  the  temperature  be  further 
raised,  and  fermentation  continues,  acetic  aci'd,  or  vinegar,  is 
formed,  and  the  alcohol  disappears.  This  is  the  second  stage. 
If  the  process  is  still  allowed  to  go  on,  with  an  elevation  of 
temperature,  then  putrefaction  sets  in.  This  is  the  third  st;ige, 
from  which  the  transition  to  those  gaseous  and  earthy  elements 
which  enterod  into  the  original  ’composition  of  the  organism,  is 
most  rapid. 

The  composition  and  parentage  of  alcohol,  however,  prove 
nothing  as  to  its  physiological  action.  We  might,  indeed,  con¬ 
jecture  that  a  product  of  decay,  and  a  twin  sister  of  carbonic 
acid,  could  not  prove  very  friendly  in  its  action  upon  the  body; 
but  this  would  still  remain  a  mere  conjecture.  We  must,  there¬ 
fore,  test  it  by  experiment;  for  only  by  experiment  and  attentive 
observation  can  we  ascertain  the  properties  of  things,  and  learn 
to  coireet  false  theories  and  erroneous  conceptions. 

Take  then,  some  alcohol  (rectified  spirits  of  wine)  and  pour  a 
little  upon  the  back  of  the  hand.  Look  at  it  attentively,  and 


ALCOHOL  AS  A  REFRIGERATOR. 


103 


* 


lo!  in  a  short  time  it  disappears.  Now  what  has  become  of  it? 
Has  it  soaked  into  the  skin  ?  No  !  It  has  evaporated  in  the 
form  of  a  very  subtle,  and,  therefore,  invisible  vapor.  This 
shows  that  alcohol  is  a  very  volatile  substance.  Volatility,  then, 
is  one  of  its  properties.  Now  what  sensation  does  it  produce 
upon  the  back  of  the  hand?  That  of  intense  cold.  In  the  act 
of  evaporating  it  abstracts  heat  in  a  very  sudden  manner  from 
the  part  to  which  it  is  applied,  giving  rise  to  the  sensation  of 
coolness. 

Thus  alcohol  is  a  refrigerating  agent.  We  might,  in  fact,  freeze 
a  person  to  death  in  the  hottest  day  in  summer  by  exposing  him 
in  a  state  of  nudity  to  the  full  rays  of  the  sun,  and  sprinkling 
him  all  over  plentifully  with  alcohol. 

When  taken  internally  it  does  not  warm  the  body,  as  ignorant 
people  imagine,  but,  on  the  contrary  often  cools  it.  Shortly 
after  being  introduced  into  the  body  it  begins  to  escape,  in  » 
virtue  of  its  excessive  volatility,  through  the  medium  of  the  lungs 
and  skin,  having,  in  the  meantime,  retarded  the  combustion  of 
the  carbonaceous  compounds  in  the  blood,  and  inflicted  serious 
injury  upon  the  great  nervous  centres. 

Take  a  small  thermometer,  and  apply  the  tube  to  the  root  of 
the  tongue,  then  mark  the  number  of  degrees ;  drink  two  or 
three  glasses  of  whisky,  and  again  apply  the  thermometer,  and 
you  will  find  that  the  temperature  of  your  mouth  has  sensibly 
decreased. 

The  experiments  of  Dumeril  and  Dermarquay  long  since 
showed  that  intoxicated  dogs  were  greatly  reduced  in  tempera¬ 
ture.  An  article  by  Prof.  C.  Binz,  of  Bonn,  ‘‘On  the  Influence  of 
Alcohol  on  the  Temperature  of  the  Body,”  published  in  the 
Pi  actitioner  for  September,  1869,  informs  us  of  the  results  of 
numerous  experiments  made  with  the  centigrade  thermometer, 
with  the  view  to  determine  the  action  of  non-poisonous  doses  of 
alcohol  upon  the  temperature  of  the  body.  The  experiments 
proved  that  small  quantities  of  alcohol  lowered  the  temperature 
considerably.  Ilalf-a-glass  of  light  hock,  or  a  small  glass  of 
cognac,  caused  a  hill  of  from  04°  to  O’G0  in  a  very  short  time. 
In  experiments  upon  dogs  with  poisonous  doses  there  was  a  fall 
in  the  temperature  amounting  to  between  4°  and  5°,  in  from  one 
to  two  hours,  at  which  period  death  took  place. 

Again:  saturate' a  piece  of  rag  in  alcohol,  and  apply  it  to  the 
arm,  preventing  evaporation  by  means  of  an  oil  silk  bandage  ;  in 


104  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OP  ALCOHOL. 


a  short  time  the  part  becomes  hot,  painful  and  inflamed,  then 
blistered,  so  that  you  are  compelled  to  remove  the  rag.  This 
proves  that  alcohol  is  an  irritant;  that  is,  possesses  the  property 
of  inflaming.  When  taken  into  the  stomach  a  similar  effect  is 
produced  upon  the  mucous  membrane ;  the  blood  flows  to  the 
part  in  contact  with  the  alcohol,  and  the  surface  becomes  con¬ 
gested  ;  mucus  is  also  thrown  out  by  the  membrane,  to  lubri¬ 
cate  the  inflamed  part,  and  preserve  it  from  irreparable  damage. 
The  increased  flow  of  blood  to  the  surface  acted  upon  by  tho 
alcohol  induces  a  sensation  of  warmth.  This  is  the  real  meaning 
of  that  “comforting  of  the  stomach”  after  a  glass  of  spirit,  which 
beguiles  the  drinker.  If  more  alcohol  be  taken,  the  inflammation 
extends,  the  mucous  membrane  ultimately  becomes  ulcerated, 
and  blood  exudes  from  the  gorged  and  ruptured  vessels.  That 
alcohol  thus  effects  the  stomach  has  been  proved  by  ocular  de¬ 
monstration  in  the  case  of  Alexis  St.  Martin,  operated  upon  by 
Dr.  Beaumont.  As  the  stomach  is  only  sparingly  supplied  with 
nerves  of  sensation,  these  ravages  may  continue  for  a  consider¬ 
able  time,  while  the  victim  is  almost  entirely  ignorant  of  it.“ 
After  drinking  freely  of  ardent  spirits  for  eight  or  ten  days  in 
succession,  Dr.  Beaumont  examined  St.  Martin’s  stomach  through 
an  external  orifice,  and  thus  reports  : — “  July  28,  ( 1833),  9  o'clock , 
A.M.  Stomach  empty — not  healthy — some  erythema  and  aph¬ 
thous  patches  on  the  mucous  surface.  St.  Martin  has  been  drink¬ 
ing  ardent  spirits  pretty  freely,  for  eight  or  ten  days  past — 
complains  of  no  pain ,  nor  shows  symptoms  of  any  general  indis¬ 
position — says  h q  feels  well,  and  has  a  good  appetite.” 

Now,  as  spirit  is  rapidly  absorbed  from  the  stomach  by  the 
absorbent  veins,  and  carried  into  the  general  circulation,  it  finds 
its  way  to  the  heart  in  company  with  the  venous  blood,  and  here 
again  its  acrid  property  comes  into  play,  irritating  the  inner 
surface  of  the  heart,  and  exciting  it  to  increased  action  in  order 
to  get  rid  of  the  intruder ;  so  for  a  time  the  heart  pumps  away 
with  greater  force  and  rapidity,  and  at  times  with  considerable 
irregularity,  as  indicated  by  the  pulse.  Now  it  is  a  well  ascer¬ 
tained  physiological  law,  that  no  organ  can  be  habitually  excited 
to  an  increased  action,  without  becoming  impaired  and  diseased. 
So  the  heart  thus  acted  upon,  day  by  day,  at  last  becomes  feeble 
and  diseased,  exhibiting  either  hypertrophy  (enlargement),  or 
fatty  degeneration  of  its  muscular  tissue. 

Again :  if  you  retain  strong  whisky  in  your  mouth  for  a  few 


ALCOHOL  A  NARCOTIC. 


105 


minutes,  you  not  only  inflame  and  blister  the  insides  of  your 
cheeks,  but  deaden  the  nerves  of  taste;  in  fact  these  become  so 
paralyzed  that  you  are  unable  to  distinguish  the  taste  of  one 
substance  Iroin  another.  If  you  shut  your  eyes  and  apply  to 
your  tongue,  first  salt,  then  sugar,  or  even  quassia  and  sugar, 
you  will  not,  by  the  taste,  be  able  to  detect  the  difference.  '!  his 
shows  alcohol  to  be  a  narcotic.  Hence,  writers  on  toxicology,  as 
Dr.  Pereira,  Prof.  Ortila,  Dr.  Taylor,  and  Prof.  Christison,  rank 
it  among  the  narcotico- acrid  poisons.  Numerous  experiments 
have  settled  this  point.  4‘  Sir  B.  Brodie  found  that  by  the 
administration  of  a  large  dose  of  alcohol  (ardent  spirit)  to  a  rabbit, 
the  pupils  of  its  eyes  became  dilated,  its  extremities  convulsed, 
and  the  respiration  laborious ;  and  that  this  latter  function  was 
gradually  performed  at  longer,  and  longer  intervals,  and  that  at 
length  it  entirely  ceased.  Two  minutes  alter  the  apparent  death 
of  the  animal,  he  opened  the  thorax  (chest)  and  found  the  heart 
acting  with  moderate  force  and  frequency,  circulating  dark 
colored  blood.  The  same  phenomena  resulted  from  the  injec¬ 
tion  of  two  drops  of  the  essential  oil  of  bitter  almonds,  (whose 
active  principle  is  prussic  acid)  diffused  in  half  an  ounce  of 
water,  into  the  bowels  of  a  cat.’* — Dr.  Paris’  Pharmacologia , 
vol.  i.,  page  244,  8th  ed. 

Dr.  Percy  says: — “About  oz.  of  alcohol  (sp.  grav.  ’850), 
having  been  injected  into  the  stomach  of  a  full-grown  spaniel 
bitch,  the  animal  immediately  uttered  a  loud,  plaintive  cry,  and 
fell  lifeless  to  the  ground.  Not  a  gasp  was  afterwards  taken, 
nor,  afier  the  lapse  of  a  minute  or  two,  could  a  single  pulsation 
of  the  heart  be  felt.  Never  did  I  see  every  spark  of  vitality 
more  effectually  and  more  instantaneously  extinguished.  .  .  . 

The  mode  in  which  death  occurred  in  this  case  was  almost  pre¬ 
cisely  identical  with  that  of  poisoning  by  a  strong  dose  of 
prussic  acid.” 

Whilst  alcohol  on  the  one  hand  diminishes  the  sensibility  of 
the  nervous  system,  it  checks  on  the  other  the  generation,  and 
equable  diffusion  of  the  nervous  fluid,  that  subtle  and  remark¬ 
able  agent,  without  which  not  a  single  process  of  animal  life  can 
be  carried  on,  and  thus  aims  a  direct  blowr  at  the  very  seat  of 
vitality ;  hence  it  is  that  those  who  indulge  in  the  use  of  liquors 
containing  it,  have  all  the  functions  of  their  body,  and  all  the 
operations  of  their  mind  retarded  and  perverted.  The  sight, 
the  hearing,  the  senses  of  smell  and  of  taste,  become  deranged  j 


106  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 


the  breathing  becomes  stertorous,  the  heart  labors,  the  mind  is 
coniu.'ed,  and  all  the  functions  of  assimilation  and  elimination 
are  impeded.  Hence,  also,  those  numerous  and  terrible  diseases 
of  the  brain  and  nervous  system,  inflicted  upon  the  devotees  of 
Bacchus,  from  the  ravings  of  mania,  the  horrid  spectres  of 
delirium  tremens ,  to  the  most  hopeless  and  incurable  forms  of 
paralysis  and  imbecility. 

Alcohol,  in  all  its  stronger  forms,  is  also  a  powerful  astringent , 
A  great  many  substances  soaked  in  it  become  contracted  and 
hardened.  This  is  its  action  upon  animal  tissues,  and  the 
nutrient  elements  of  the  vegetable  world.  If  we  wish  to  pre¬ 
serve  organic  specimens  we  generally  place  them  in  glass  jars, 
filled  with  spirit;  in  which  they  become  tanned,  hardened,  and 
imperishable. 

Where  alcohol,  in  the  form  of  brandy,  beer,  or  wine,  is  taken 
into  the  stomach  during  a  meal,  or  immediately  after,  it  tans  and 
condenses  the  food,  and  thus  renders  it  indigestible ;  at  the 
same  time  it  also  injures  the  solvent  action  of  the  gastric  juice, 
by  precipitating  its  pepsine.  Hence  we  see  how  erroneous  the 
notion,  that  brandy  or  wine  taken  after  dinner  aids  digestion,  and 
also,  how  foolish  and  unscientific  it  is  on  the  part  of  medical  men 
to  prescribe  a  mixture  of  rum  and  milk.  The  rum  hardens  the 
caseine  of  the  milk,  and  thus  converts  it  into  an  indigestible  sub¬ 
stance. 

But  alcohol  is  also  a  very  powerful  solvent  of  certain  substances. 

The  bitter  principle  of  herbs,  essential  oils,  the  alkaloids,  and 
the  resinoids,  in  which  the  medicinal  properties  of  plants  chiefly 
reside,  are  all  of  them  dissolvable  in  alcohol.  Hence,  alcohol  is 
a  very  useful  agent  in  pharmacy,  and  in  conducting  various 
chemical  processes.  It  is  also  of  great  service  in  many  of  the 
uselul  arts;  the  French-polisher  cannot  well  do  without  it. 

Now,  from  its  power  to  astringe  and  tan  on  the  one  hand,  and 
its  power  to  dissolve  on  the  other,  it  has  a  most  pernicious  action 
upon  the  blood.  This  fluid  is  derived  from  the  food  we  eat,  and 
the  water  we  drink,  and  it  contains  within  itself  all  those  con¬ 
stituents  that  go  to  build  up  the  body,  and  also  those  waste 
matters  that  arise  from  the  changes  constantly  going  on  within. 
The  red  color  of  the  blood  is  derived  from  innumerable  red 
globules  floating  in  the  Liquor  Sanguinis  (blood  fluid),  they  con¬ 
tain  iron  in  a  state  of  oxidation,  and  it  is  from  the  presence  of 
,  this  that  they  owe  their  crimson  color.  If  these  globules  be- 


ALCOHOL  DEVITALIZES  THE  BLOOD.  107 

como  deficient  in  number  or  quality,  then  debility  and  disease 
must  ensue.* 

Possessing  very  strong  solvent  properties,  alcohol  acts  most 
perniciously  upon  the  red  globules,  dissolving  the  iron  out  of 
them  in  whole,  or  in  part,  and  occasioning  the  formation  of 
black  oily  specks. 

The  globules  (or  corpuscles)  become  considerably  altered  in 
shape;  and  instead  of  being  plump  and  round,  become  flattened, 
elongated,  and  pale.  This  devitalized  condition  of  the  blood 
produces  anaemia,  or  palidity.  The  countenance  lacks  the  rosy 
hue  of  health,  and  the  lips  are  white. 

The  red  coloring  matter  dissolved  out  of  the  red  globules,  is 
forced  into  the  fine  hair-like  (capillary)  vessel^ of  the  blood,  and 
also  into  the  ultimate  tissues,  causing  irritation  and  disease. 
There  is  a  distinct  form  of  rheumatism,  known  as  alcoholic 
rheumatism,  induced  entirely  by  the  use  of  fermented  fluids. 
Dr.  13.  W.  Richardson,  some  years  ago,  called  the  attention  of 
the  profession  to  a  peculiar  state  of  the  lung,  a  real  j phthisis 
(consumption),  having  alcohol  for  its  exclusive  cause.  Gout  is 
another  disease  of  alcoholic  origin,  as  none  but  drinkers,  or  their 
descendants,  suffer  from  it. 

Professor  Carl  Schultz  states  : — “The  alcohol  stimulates  the 
blood  discs  to  an  increased  and  unnatural  contraction,  which 
hurries  them  on  to  the  last  stage  of  development — that  is,  in¬ 
duces  their  premature  decay  and  death.  The  coloring  matter  is 
dissolved  out  of  them,  and  the  pale  discs  lose  all  their  vitality ; 
whence  less  oxygen  can  be  absorbed  ami  less  carbon  carried  out.” 
The  experiments  of  Drs.  Bbcker  and  Virchow  concur  in  proving 
that  alcohol  poisons  the  blood,  and  arrests  the  development,  as 
well  as  hastens  the  decay  of  the  red  corpuscles.  Dr.  Rocker 
notices  the  alterations  undergone  by  the  blood  of  habitual 
alcohol  drinkers  as  yet  in  good  health ,  viz :  a  partial  loss  of 
power  to  become  red  by  exposure  to  the  air,  in  consequence  of 
the  loss  of  vitality  in  the  portion  of  the  blood  discs. 

Alcohol  being  a  very  powerful  astringent,  acts  perniciously 
upon  the  albumen  of  the  blood,  and  thus  seriously  impedes  and 
perverts  the  reparative  processes. 

*  In  1,000  parts  of  blood  the  following  are  the  average  proportions  of  its 
different  consiiiuents  in  health: — FibrineS,  Globules  la7,  solid  matters  of 
serum,  including  albumen,  lat,  etc.,  so.  Water,  700.  Inorganic  matters  of 
serum,  including  salt,  potash,  etc.,  8.  The  blood  holds  in  solution  urea,  lac¬ 
tic  acid,  and  other  products  of  the  disintegrating  process  on  their  way  to  the 
different  excretory  organs. 


108  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 


By  devitalizing  the  red  globules,  and  hardening  and  corrupt¬ 
ing  the  albumen,  alcohol  prevents  the  full  aeration  of  the  blood 
in  the  air  cells  of  the  lungs. 

Dr.  Carpenter  says : — “  We  have  seen  it  to  be  one  of  the  pro¬ 
perties  of  alcohol,  that,  when  mingled  with  venous  blood,  it  exerts 
precisely  ike  same  effect  as  an  insufficient  supply  of  air ,  in  pre¬ 
venting  its  complete  depuration  in  the  lungs/’ 

“Alcohol  also  occasions  an  unnatural  and  unhealthy  accumu¬ 
lation  of  fatty  materials  in  the  blood;  increasing  it  from  2  to  3 
parts  in  1,000,  which  is  the  healthy  and  natural  proportion,  to 
as  high  as  117,  which  is  a  most  unhealthy  and  unnatural 
proportion.  The  eminent  French-  analytical  chemist,  Lecanti, 
found  as  much  as  1 17  parts  of  fat  in  1,000  parts  of  a  drunkard’s 
blood,  the  highest  estimate  of  the  quantity  in  health  being  8^- 
parts,  while  resembling  (so  far  as  this  point  is  concerned)  that 
which  is  brought  about  by  imperfect  ventilation,  bad  sewerage, 
noxious  emanations,  etc.; — namely,  to  contaminate  it  with  the 
refuse  generated  in  the  body  itself,  whose  due  elimination  is 
checked  no  less  effectually  by  the  presence  of  alcohol  in  the  cir¬ 
culating  current,  than  it  is  by  constantly  shutting  up  the  doors 
and  windows  of  our  apartments,  or  by  heaping  together  a  mass 
of  putrefying  rubbish  in  our  cellars,  or  by  damming  up  our 
sewers  and  causing  them  to  overflow  into  our  kitchens,  or  by  any 
other  similarly  approved  means  of  causing  the  fever-germs  to 
take  root  and  flourish  in  our  systems.’’ — Physiology  of  Temper¬ 
ance,  pp.  158-9. 

Very  frequently  this  fatty  material  is  deposited  in  the  mus¬ 
cular  tissues,  thereby  inducing  that  diseased  condition  known  as 
fatty  degeneration,  f\*om  which  so  many  drinkers  suffer,  and 
which  it  is  so  very  difficult  to  cure.  Says  Dr.  T.  King  Chambers, 
“Three  quarters  of  the  chronic  illnesses  which  the  medical  man 
has  to  treat,  are  occasioned  by  this  disease.”  The  organs  most 
liable  to  fatty  degeneration  of  their  structures,  are  the  heart,  and 
liver,  the  kidneys  and  the  walls  of  the  blood  vessels.  The  entire 
muscular  structure  of  the  body  may  also  become  infiltrated  with 
oily  and  fatty  deposits.  Fatty  degeneration  of  the  heart  is  a 
disease  of  very  frequent  occurrence.  This  disease  very  often 
proves  suddenly  fatal ;  the  subject  of  it  appearing  to  enjoy  his 
usual  health  only  a  few  minutes  before  he  falls  down  and  expires. 

We  quote  the  following  from  Dr.  Munroe's  Pamphlet: 

“  An  instance  of  a  very  suddenly  fatal  case  of  this  disease  occurred  to 


ALCOHOL  NOT  A  STIMULANT. 


109 


me  not  Ion"  ago,— one  of  a  like  character  with  half  a  dozen  more  which 
I  have  witnessed  during  the  last  few  years.  The  person  was  of  middle 
age,  rather  stout,  of  exceedingly  quiet  habits,  never  appearing  to  be  in 
aliurry  about  anything,  taking  only  moderate  exercise,  but  never  seen 
walking  fast  or  exerting  himself.  He  had,  however,  contracted  the  bad 
habit  o°f  taking  a  small  glass  of  whisky  three  or  four  times  a  day,  yet 
never  appearing  drunk,  or  in  the  least  excited.  He  was  the  popular 
picture  of  good  health,  and  had  scarcely  ever  had  a  day’s  illness,  but 
sometimes  complained  of  a  lulness  at  the  chest,  and  slight  beating  of 
the  heart.  One  day,  after  having  partaken  of  his  dinner,  drank  a  glass 
of  ale,  and  smoked  his  pipe  as  usual,  on  rising  up  to  go  to  his  business, 
he  suddenly  dropped  down  on  the  floor,  and  died  immediately.  On 
making  the  post  mortem  examination,  the  brain  seemed  healthy,  so  did 
the  heart,  lungs,  liver,  and  other  viscera.  The  man  had  died  apparently 
without  the  slightest  indication  of  organic  disease,  or  of  any  lesion  to 
account  for  so  sudden  a  catastrophe.  My  next  object  was  to  make  thin 
sections  of  the  heart,  liver,  and  kidneys,  and  piace  them  under  the 
microscope.  The  mystery  of  his  death  was  now  immediately  revealed, 
for  every  organ  subjected  to  microscopic  analysis  exemplified  the  slow, 
structural  lesions  of  fatty  degeneration.  The  fibres  of  the  heart,  a 
powerful  muscle,  had  become  so  enfeebled  and  degenerated  by  the  in¬ 
testinal  deposit  of  oil  globules,  that  it  had  suddenly  and  spasmodically 
ceased  to  act.  Had  the  man  been  a  pure  water  drinker,  such  a  suddenly 
fatal  result  could  hardly  have  happened.  It  is  the  misfortune  of  medical 
men  to  have  scores  of  patients  in  a  year  laboring  under  some  of  the 
protean  forms  of  fatty  degeneration,  who  would  never  -have  occasion  to 
require  the  doctor’s  assistance  it  they  would  only  forego  the  daily  use  of 
even  small  quantities  of  alcohol.  This  agrees  with  a  broad  experience 
and  the  most  extended  observations,  in  regard  both  to  the  benefit  of 
abstinence  and  the  evils  of  drinking.”* 

Thus  do  alcoholic  beverages  directly  corrupt  and  devitalize 
the  stream  of  life,  and  degenerate  those  tissues  which  it  leeds. 
Says  Dr.  IVatson  :  “  It  is  a  curious  pathological  (act,  that  the  ted 
particles  require  more  time  for  their  restoration  than  the  other 
constituents  of  the  blood.  The  albumen  of  the  blood  and  the 
salts  of  the  blood  are  speedily  restored,  but  not  so  its  red  pai- 
ticles.  And  hence  the  local  congestions  to  which  they  are 
liable,”  who  have  suffered  loss  of  blood. 

Alcohol  is  said  to  be  a  stimulant,  and  as  such,  is  very  freely 
prescribed  in  certain  states  of  disease. 

But  ivhat  is  a  stimulant?  Dr.  T.  IC.  Chambers,  says,  “It  is 
usually  held  to  be  something  which  spurs  on  an  animal  operated 

*  Physiological  Action  of  Alcohol,  p.  14. 

10 


110  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 


upon  to  a  more  vigorous  performance  of  its  duties.”  According 
to  this  definition,  the  whip  and  the  spur  to  the  jaded  horse  are 
stimulants;  a  sudden  shock  to  the  nerves  is  also  a  stimulant. 
The  signal  gun  of  the  Emperor  Theodore,  fired  from  the  height 
of  Tahla,  acted  as  a  very  powerful  stimulant  to  the  jaded  soldiers 
of  the  4th  regiment.  Just  before  that  cannon  roared  forth  the 
signal  for  battle,  they  were  terribly  knocked  up  ;  soldiers  here 
and  there  falling  out  of  the  ranks,  completely  exhausted,  and 
imploring  most  piteously  for  water.  But  no  sooner  does  the 
cannon  boom  from  Tahla’s  hill,  than  all  sense  of  fatigue  vanishes, 
and  rushing  to  the  front,  they  endure  the  brunt  of  war,  and  storm 
the  heights.  Now,  accepting  Dr.  Chambers'  definition,  how  does 
it  apply  here?  Will  it  spur  on  an  animal  to  a  more  vigorous 
performance  of  its  duties?  No!  It  detracts  from  what  remains 
of  energy  and  strength,  and  prevents  us  from  accomplishing  so 
much  ns  we  otherwise  should.  People  who  take  alcohol,  think 
otherwise,  because  the  sensibility  of  the  nervous  system  becomes 
Blunted,  while  they  feel  lighter  about  the  head,  and  warmer  in 
the  region  of  the  stomach.  Dr.  Brinton,  though  no  teetotaler, 
confesses,  that  “Even  a  moderate  dose  of  beer  or  wine  dimin¬ 
ishes  the  maximum  weight  which  a  person  can  lift,  to  something 
below  his  teetotal  standard.  In  like  manner,  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say,  that  mental  acuteness,  accuracy  of  perception,  and 
delicacy  of  the  senses,  are  all  so  far  opposed  by  alcohol,  as 
that  the  maximum  efforts  of  each  are  incompatible  with  the 
ingestion  of  any  moderate  quantity  of  fermented  liquid.” 

'To  our  mind,  a  stimulant  may  be  more  accurately  defined 
thus  : — Any  agent,  which,  acting  in  harmony  with  the  vis 
conservatrix  natura  (the  inherent  power  of  the  body  to  resist 
external  forces),  increases  the  activity  of  the  different  func¬ 
tions  by  the  normal  development ,  and  distribution  of  vital 
force. 

Nature  has  provided  us  with  a  great  variety  of  stimulants 
answering  to  the  above  definition.  Some  of  them  are  of  a 
purely  hygienic  character,  as  change  of  scene,  cheerful  company, 
a  hearty  laugh,  vigorous  exercise,  bathing  in  sea-water,  the 
application  of  the  fle>h  Inush  to  the  surface  of  the  bod}r,  etc. 
O.hers  are  more  purely  medicinal,  as  cayenne,  and  the  acro- 
aromatics  generally.  All  stimulants,  however,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  the  purely  hygienic,  follow  the  same  general  law.  Their 
frequent  use  impairs  the  sens ih Hit y  upon  which  they  feed ,  inducing 


■ 


y 


STIMULANTS  AND  DEPRESSANTS. 


Ill 


a  state  of  atony  or  debility.  This  is  .a  wise  and  sal uf ary  law. 
Nature  never  intended  us  to  live  upon  stimulants  5  they  are  to 
be  reserved  for  those  great  crises  when  weakness  overtakes  us, 
and  disease  threatens  our  life. 

Depiessanls  may  he  divided  into  two  classes,  the  narcotic,  and 
the  non  narcotic.  To  the  former  belong  opium,  digitalis,  tobacco, 
etc.,  to  the  latter,  nitre,  tartar  emetic,  etc.  Both  classes  follow 
the  same  general  law  of  depressants,  that  is,  in  small  doses  they 
lower  the  vitality  of  the  body,  in  larger,  sdriously  impair  the 
health,  the  reactive  stage  being  characterized  by  quick  pulse,  and 
nervous  irritability  5  and  in  still  larger  doses,  destioy  lhe.  lake 
nitre  for  instance,  in  small  doses  it  cools  the  body,  and  acts  as 
a  diaphoretic  ;  in  large  doses  it  seriously  interferes  with  the 
bodily  functions,  and  in  still  larger  it  produces  great  oppression, 
a  bloody  flux  comes  on,  and  the  patient  dies.  When  small  doses 
of  the  milder  class  are  frequently  repeated,  the  body,  to  a  certain 
extent,  accommodates  itself  to  their  use,  so  that  the  evil  effects 
resulting  are  very  gradual,  almost  imperceptible.  With  the 
narcotic  class  a  terrible  morbid  craving  for  their  continued  use 
is  engendered,  which  at  last  becomes  an  all-absorbing  and  un¬ 
controllable  passion,* 

Now  to  which  of  these  two  classes  does  alcohol  belong?  Says 
Dr.  Edmunds: — “Is  spirit  a  stimulant?  W'e  use  the  word 
*  stimulant’  as  something  which  increases  the  activity  of  the 
body;  therefore  if  spirit  be  a  stimulant,  you  have  this  remark¬ 
able  proposition— that  by  diminishing  the  dose  you  reverse  the 
nature  of  the  effect.  Now  it  would  require  the  strongest  possible 
evidence  to  prove,  satisfactorily,  that  that  which  is  known  to  be 
a  paralyzer  in  large  doses,  is  a  stimulant  in  small  doses.  I  hold 
that  its  action,  in  all  doses,  is  always  that  of  a  narcotic,  and 
paralyzer.” 

In  a  letter,  signed  “  A  Provincial  Doctor,”  which  appeared  in 

*  We  beg  to  call  attention  to  the  action  of  chlorodine ,  an  agent  advertised  as 
a  nostrum  and  a  cure-all.  and  the  consumption  of  which  is  alarmingly  increas¬ 
ing  among  us.  In  its  action  it  is  an  anaesthetic  ;  it  deadens  and  paralyzes  the 
nervous  system,  and  is,  in  fact,  a  far  more  destructive  agent  than  alcohol. 
Those  w1k>  yield  themselves  up  to  its  habitual  use,  in  a  very  short  time  become 
conscious  oi  a  terrible  oppression. and  at  the  same  time  acquire  a  terrible  appe¬ 
tite  for  the  drug.  Tliev  lose  flesh,  become  emaciated  and  pale,  and  subject 
to  mental  hallucinations,  and  to  many  nervous  sensations  of  a  very  trouble¬ 
some  character.  We  know  a  gentleman  who  used  to  spend  30s.  a  week  upon 
chlorodine.  At  times  he  imagined  that  his  body  was  burning,  and  that  his 
hands  were  all  in  a  blaze.  Sometimes  lie  would  console  himself,  that  though 
liis  hands  were  burning  away,  his  arms  would  still  be  left  entire.  This  gentle¬ 
man  altera  time  was  forcibly  prevented  from  using  his  anodt/tu;  he  then  began 
to  recover  from  these  hallucinations  U.is  complexion  improved,  and  he  put 
on  flesh. 


» 


V 


112  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 


the  British  Medical  Journal,  Nov.  2,  1861,  we  find  the  following* 
“The  question  I  wish  to  ask  is  this  5  can  alcohol  in  any  shape, 
increase  strength,  and  render  more  vigorous  the  bodily  processes  ? 
Adopting  the  usual  phrase,  is  ‘vital  force’ augmented  by  it,  or 
not?  All  the  facts  seem  to  answer  in  the  negative.  If  under 
the  influence  of  alcohol  men  bear  both  heat  and  cold  less  per¬ 
ceptibly  ;  if  exertion  be  ‘  disfavored,’  if  ‘  nutrition’  be  5  deranged,’ 
andif‘mutual  acuteness  and  sensuous  activity  be  lessened,’  it 
seems  very  clear  that  alcohol  must  do  anything  rather  than 
increase  ‘  the  vital  force.’  If  I  were  recommending  anything 
to  a  man  to  make  him  stronger,  it  would  precisely  be,  not  that 
substance  that  at  once  renders  hinTunable  to  lift  a  weight  which 
previously  he  had  been  able  to  do.” 

Dr.  T.  K.  Chambers  says: — “  What  is  a  stimulant?  It  is  usually 
held  to  be  something  which  spurs  on  an  animal  to  a  more  vigor¬ 
ous  performance  of  its  duties.  It  seems  doubtful  if,  on  the 
healthy  nervous  system,  this  is  ever  the  effect  of  alcohol,  even  in 
the  most  moderate  doses,  and  for  the  shortest  periods  of  time. 
A  diminution  of  force  is  quite  consistent  with  augmented  quick¬ 
ness  of  motion ,  or  may  it  not  be  said  that,  in  involuntary  muscles, 
it  implies  it.  The  action  of  chloroform  is  to  quicken  the  pulse, 
yet  the  observations  of  Dr.  Bedford  Brown  on  the  circulation  in 
the  human  cerebrum  during  anaesthesia,  clearly  show  that  tho 
propelling  power  of  the  heart  is  diminished  during  that  state.” 

Dr.  E.  Smith  says  : — “  We  need  110c  refer  to  the  action  of 
alcohol  in  lessening  consciousness,  the  perception  of  light  and 
sound,  and  the  diminution  of  muscular  power  ;  for  where  a  full 
ordinary  dose  is  taken,  they  may  be  perceived  in  every  half- 

drunken  man . In  less  doses,  these  effects 

are  either  less  evident,  or  they  are  not  at  all  perceptible;  but  in 
whatever  dose,  the  direction  of  the  action  of  the  alcohol  must  be  the 
same.  It  is  impossible  that  a  small  dose  of  alcohol  shall  directly 
increase  muscular  power;  for  example,  whilst  a  larger,  yet  an 
ordinary  dose,  decreases  it;  and  if  men  half-drunk  have  some¬ 
times  exerted  unusual  strength,  it  has  been  from  the  same  cause 
as  is  seen  in  the  efforts  of  a  madman,  not  from  an  increase  of 
muscular  power,  but  from  increase  of  the  effort  of  the  will.  .  . 

The  practical  question  now  arises:  Do  these  actions  show  that 
alcohol  has  the  power  to  increase  nervous  or  vital  force?  The 
reply  is,  I  think,  clear.  We  do  not  profess  to  explain  the  mode 
by  which  alcohol  produces  the  effects  described ;  that  is  a  ques- 


ALCOHOL  LESSENS  VITAL  FOKCE. 


113 


tion  which  must  be  left  for  further  research  ;  but  it  is  clear  that 
one  of  its  actions  is  physical,  and  although  the  others  seem  to  be 
vital,  it  may  be  that  they  are  physical  also.  Thus  the  action 
upon  the  surface  with  which  it  is  in  contact,  must  be  physical; 
and  in  this  manner,  by  exciting  nerve-action  upon  the  surface, 
the  efficiency  of  that  surface  may  be  increased,  as  in  the  stomach, 
for  example,  in  relation  to  its  vermicular  motion,  and  its  viral 
processes.  When  the  force  of  the  heart  is  insufficient  to  main¬ 
tain  the  circulation,  all  vital  action  must>  languish,  and  by 
increasing  that  force,  alcohol  must  thus  promote  vital  action. 
[Query.]  This  increase  of  the  heart’s  action  may  be  due  to  the 
physical  action  of  the  alcohol  upon  the  inner  surface  of  the  heart, 
since  the  increased  action  occurs  in  from  three  to  eight  minutes 
after  the  alcohol  has  been  taken,  and  when,  therefore,  it  will  have 
entered  the  circulation ;  or  it  may  be  due  to  the  diminution  of 
peripheral  exudation,  or  to  the  congestion  of  the  capillaries,  by 
which  this  vis  a  fronte  would  be  increased,  and  as  a  secondary 
effect,  this  vis  a  tergo  must  be  increased  to  overcome  it.  When 
alcohol  is  applied  to  a  surface  in  which  the  capillary  action  can 
be  traced,  as  the  bat’s  wing,  it  is  observed  first  to  increase  the 
capillary  action,  and  then  the  capillaries  become  distended  and 
congested ,  and  finally  the  circulation  may  cease  for  a  time.  In 
death  from  alcohol,  there  is  great  congestion  of  various  organs, 
and  it  is  probable  that  diminution  of  capillary  action,  with 
increased  fulness  of  these  vessels,  is  the  ordinary  effect  in  man, 
and  accounts  for  the  blood-shot  eyes  and  swollen  hands  and  face, 
commonly  observed.  The  action  on  the  bat’s  wing  is  certainly 
physical  and  exhaustive;  and  it  may  be  that  the  action  is  the 
same  when  alcohol  is  taken  into  the  circulation.  Have  we  then 
in  these  actions,  evidence  that  alcohol  has  the  power  to  increase 
nervous  force?  I  venture  to  assert  that  alcohol,  in  its  direct 
action,  has  no  such  power;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  its  direct 
action  is  to  lessen  nervous  force ;  and  that,  in  fact,  in  its  degree, 
it  is  a  poison  of  the  nervous  centres.” 

From  the  above,  wTe  are  certainly  justified  in  maintaining  that 
alcohol  is  a  depressant — not  a  tonic,  nor  a  stimulant. 

Some  years  ago  I  purposely  placed  myself  under  the  influence 
of  alcohol.  At  eight  o'clock,  p.  m.,  and  three  and  a  half  hours 
after  partaking  of  a  light  tea,  I  took  one  ounce  of  rectified 
spirits  of  wine  diluted  with  two  ounces  of  water;  ten  minutes 
afterwards  I  repeated  the  dose.  The  first  perceptible  effect  was  a 
10* 


114  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 

sensation  of  warmth  in  the  region  of  the  stomach,  followed 
immediately  by  a  chillinesss  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  body, 
though  the  temperature  in  the  room  was  at  CcS°  Fah.  This  was 
speedily  followed  by  reaction.  The  pulse  indicated  arterial 
excitement,  and  I  breathed  more  rapidly  than  usual.  As  soon 
as  the  spirit  rose  to  the  brain,  the  cheeks  became  flushed,  the 
eyes  sparkled,  and  the  temporal  arteries  throbbed.  I  then  felt 
an  irresistible  tendency  to  talk,  and  became  very  loquacious. 
This  was  attended  with  an  involuntary  screwing  of  the  mouth, 
v  ith  a  meaningless  laughter,  and  an  attempt  to  sing.  In  fact,  I 
felt  “jolly.”  But  together  with  this,  there  was  an  unsteadiness 
in  my  gait,  mv  legs  felt  very  light.  There  was  a  giddiness  in  my 
head,  and  a  strange  confusion  of  my  mental  powers.  1  he  ability  to 
fix  the  attention  upon  any  subject  was  greatly  impaired,  but  the 
imagination  was  excited  and  the  fancy  wild  and  restless.  Ideas 
came  and  went,  and  I  had  no  power  to  retain  them.  As  I  had 
not  partaken  of  alcohol  for  many  years,  its  action  upon  me  was 
very  striking,  and  rapid,  and  soon  became  almost  overpowering. 

We  will  now  inquire  into  the  causes  of  these  various  symptoms. 
The  sense  of  heat  and  warmth  in  the  region  of  the  stomach,  was 
undoubtedly  owing  to  the  acrid  property  of  alcohol  irritating  the 
mucous  membrane  of  that  delicate  organ.  rlhe  sense  of  chilli¬ 
ness  extending  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  body  was  clearly 
due  to  an  interference  with  the  capillaries  of  the  surface,  and  the 
functions  of  the  skin.  But  was  not  the  exhilaration  and  jollity, 
the  brightening  of  the  eyes,  and  the  glowing  of  the  countenance, 
indicative  of  increased  activity  of  the  circulation  in  the  brain? 
If  so,  alcohol  must  be  a  stimulant.  But  I  remember  that  this 
state  was  attended  by  other  symptoms,  indicating  not  stimulation 
but  oppression.  There  was  lightness  of  the  head,  and  of  the 
legs,  unsteadiness  of  gait  and  movement,  with  a  certain  bewilder¬ 
ment  and  obtuseness  of  the  mental  powers.  I  then  saw  that  two 
of  the  properties  of  alcohol  were  concerned  in  producing  these 
symptoms.  The  unsteadiness  of  gait  and  motion  were  to  be 
attributed  to  the  narcotic  action  of  the  drug  j list  then  coming 
into  operation,  depressing  the  cerebellum,  which  regulates  volun¬ 
tary  motion,  and  also  the  cerebrum,  the  seat  of  the  intellectual 
powers.  The  excitement  was  owing  to  the  irritant  property  of 
alcohoi  affecting  principally  the  base  of  the  brain.  The  alcohol 
being  rapidly  absorbed  from  the  stomach,  and  carried  to  the 
brain,  its  acrid  properties  at  once  come  into  play.  The  delicate 


ALCOHOL  LESSENS  VITAL  FORCE. 


115 


tissues  of  the  brain  at  its  base  are  irritated,  and  blood  flows  to 
the  part  5  yet  not  sufficient  at  first  to  produce  congestion,  but 
only  increased  activity  in  the  circulation.  The  region  of  the 
brain,  which  is  the  seat  of  the  reasoning  and  moral  faculties,  is 
the  first  to  suffer,  leaving  the  other  part  (the  seat  of  the  animal 
propensities)  excited,  while  its  functions  are  uncontrolled  by 
reason  and  conscience.  After  this,  even  the  cerebellum  becomes 
narcotized,  and  the  whole  nervous  system  oppressed.  The  head 
becomes  heavy,  the  face  more  deeply^  flushed,  the  breathing 
stentorous,  the  pulse  oppressed,  the  power  of  locomotion  fails,  and 
the  unhappy  wight  falls  to  the  ground,  and  loses  all  sense  and 
feeling.  He  is,  in  fact,  dead-drunk.  On  the  whole,  we  concluded 
that  the  symptoms  we  experienced  were  produced  by  the  com¬ 
bined  volatile,  acrid,  and  narcotic  properties  of  alcohol. 

In  conversing  with  members  of  the  medical  profession,  we  find 
some  who  now  candidly  confess  that  alcohol  is  not  a  stimulant. 
Many  have  come  to  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  T.  K.  Chambers,  that 
“  alcohol  is  prima>  ily  and  essentially  a  lessenerof  ilie  power  of  the 
nervous  system.*'  But  some  medical  men  are  now  beginning  to 
prescribe  alcohol  as  a  sedative ,  and,  what  is  curious,  in  those  very 
states  for  which  it  was  formerly  administered  as  a  stimulant! 
So  that,  although  they  have  changed  their  opinions  in  reference 
to  the  properties  of  alcohol,  they  have  not  changed  their  practice. 

Now,  what  is  a  sedative?  Etymologically,  it  is  what  “calms.” 
But  a  strange  confusion  has  crept  into  medical  nomenclature  in 
reference  to  this  term.  Sedatives  are  confounded  with  narcotics, 
and  these,  however  deadly,  are  termed  sedatives!  The  same 
term  is  also  used  to  designate  those  mild  agents  that  merely 
soothe  and  tranquillize,  but  do  not  narcotize,  the  nervous  system. 
If  by  a  sed  dive,  medical  men  refer  to  the  former,  then  alcohol  is 
a  sedative;  but  if  they  use  the  term  to  designate  that  which 
merely  allays  nervous  irritability,  then  alcohol  is  not  a  sedative. 
A  sedative  soothes  the  excited  and  irritated  nervous  system,  by 
equalizing  the  circulation  of  the  nervous  fluid  ;  a  narcotic  relieves 
pain  by  deadening  nervous  sensibility.  Sedatives  and  narcotics 
are  in  reality  antagonistic,  and  if  alcohol  be  a  narcotic,  it  cannot 
be  a  sedative,  and  vice  versa.  An  irritant,  and  a  narcotic,  how¬ 
ever,  are  not  antagonistic;  they  may,  and  often  do,  coexist  in 
the  same  agent,  and  we  see  this  combination  in  alcohol. 

Alcohol,  then,  is  a  narcotico  acrid  Poison.  No  definition  of  a 
poison  can  be  given  which  shall  exclude  this  agent. 


116  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 


A  poison  “is  a  substance  which,  when  taken  internally,  is 
capable  of  destroying  life  without  acting  mechanically  upon  the 
system.”  Alcohol  answers  to  this  exactly.  Dr.  E.  Johnson 
asks,  “  What  is  a  poison?  Is  it  not  any  substance  which,  when 
taken  into  the  system,  has  the  effect  of  disordering  some  one  or 
more  of  the  actions  which  make  up  the  sum  of  life,  and  which, 
if  taken  in  sufficient  quantity,  will  destroy  life  itself?” 

To  say  that  alcohol  is  a  poison,  is  to  state  a  scientific  fact:  and 
the  man,  therefore,  who  drinks  alcohol,  however  moderately,  and 
however  diluted  or  mixed,  drinks  a  poison  ;  and  when  the  pulse 
hounds,  the  eyes  sparkle,  the  cheeks  flush,  and  the  ideas  flow 
from  the  imbibition  of  a  small  dose,  the  man  is  suffering  from 
incipient  poisoning.  The  very  terra  we  use  when  a  man  is  drunk, 
expresses  this :  for  we  say  the  man  is  intoxicated ,  which  means 
“  poisoned.” 

Nearly  all  poisons  have  this  peculiarity.  By  a  kind  of  affinity, 
they  select  certain  organs,  or  parts,  in  preference  to  others,  upon 
which  to  expend  their  destructive  powers.  Tobacco  paralyzes 
the  heart ;  so  does  digitalis.  Strychnine  takes  effect  upon  the 
spinal  cord.  Lead  fastens  upon  the  muscles  of  the  wrist. 
Arsenic  attacks  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  alimentary  pa*  •ages. 
So  alcohol  selects,  by  preference,  the  liver  and  the  brain,  upon 
which  to  expend  the  full  force  of  its  ravages.  “  If  in  the  blood, 
for  instance,  it  is  represented  by  l’O;  in  the  brain  it  is  D34  ;  in 
the  liver  D38.  If  alcohol  be  injected  into  the  veins  it  spreads  to 
all  the  tissues,  but  accumulates  most  largely  in  the  brain  ;  being 
in  the  liver  as  l-75;  in  cerebral  matter,  3‘0.”* — Lallemand  and 
Perrin. 

There  is  one  portion  of  the  brain,  however,  which  it  selects  in 
preference  to  the  remainder,  and  that  is  the  cerebrum ,  or  brain 
proper;  the  organ  of  the  mind,  the  seat  of  the  will,  and  of  the 
moral  and  intellectual  faculties.  In  death  from  alcohol-poisoning 
the  delicate  tissues  of  this  organ  are  found  to  be  saturated  with 
spirit,  which  indeed  can  be  distilled  from  them.  By  its  presence 
here,  alcohol  perverts  and  distorts  the  reasoning  and  moral 
powers,  and  blunts  the  perceptive  faculties,  and  induces  certain 
wayward  tendencies  to  manifest  themselves,  varying  in  different 
persons,  according  to  their  peculiar  cerebral  development. 

All  poisons  are  cumulative  in  their  actions,  that  is.  small  doses 
frequently  repeated  injure  the  body,  and  finally  destroy  life  as 
*  All  experiments,  however,  do  not  agree  in  this. — Ed. 


MODERATE  DRINKING  INJURIOUS. 


117 


completely  as  though  a  poisonous  dose  had  been  taken  at  once ; 
but  ot  course  the  action  extends  over  a  longer  period.  Hence 
alcohol  being  a  poison,  and  foreign  to  the  body,  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  its  action  mast  be  the  same ,  and  deleterious,  whatever  be 
the  dose  taken.  The  intensity  of  the  action  will  of  course  vary 
with  the  amount  consumed  ;  but  the  kind  of  action  will  be 
unchanged. 

The  frequent  repetition  of  even  small  doses  will,  in  the  course 
of  years,  impair  the  constitution,  and  finally  destroy  life.  The  so 
called  moderate  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  a  very  dangerous 
and  injurious  practice,  and  the  man  who  drinks  but  two  glasses 
of  beer  or  spirits  a  day,  will  probably,  in  the  course  of  years,  sus¬ 
tain  greater  damage  to  his  constitution,  than  the  man  who  gets 
intoxicated  once  a  fortnight  or  once  a  month,  but  abstains  the 
rest  of  the  time.  The  man  who  occasionally  drinks  a  large 
quantity,  allows  his  body  to  right  itself  in  the  interval,  while  the 
moderate  constant  drinker  never  allows  his  blood  to  be  free  from 
the  presence  of  the  disturber,  and  so  his  body  becomes  diseased. 
Says  Dr.  Chambers:  “The  action  of  frequent  small  divided 
drams,  is  to  produce  the  greatest  amount  of  harm  of  which  alcohol 
is  capable,  with  the  least  amount  of  good.” 

Indeed,  all  the  ill  effects  flowing  from  the  excessive  use  of 
strong  drink  may  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the  so  called  “  moderate 
use,”  for  here  they  have  their  origin.  Oinomania  is  induced  by 
moderate  drinking.  Every  moderate  drinker  suffers  from  it  to 
a  greater  or  less  degree,  from  that  first  mild  craving  of  which  he 
becomes  conscious  in  the  beginning  of  his  career,  to  that  over¬ 
whelming  and  irresistible  passion  into  which  that  mild  craving 
at  last  ripens. 

The  following  are  the  results  of  11  Moderate  Drinking,”  so 
called. 

1. — It  lowers  vitality,  and  so  produces  a  predisposition  to 
certain  morbid  states.  *  The  direction  of  the  diseased  condition 
will,  of  course,  depend  mainly  upon  the  idiosyncrasy,  the  general 
mode  of  life,  and  the  temperament  of  the  drinker.  Persons  of  a 
full  habit  of  body  are  more  liable  to  inflammatory  complaints,  to 
congestions,  and  apoplexy;  the  nervous,  to  diseases  of  the 
nervous  system  and  of  the  kidneys.  Others  again  become  more 
liable  to  disorders  of  the  liver  and  of  digestion.  Dr.  Gordon,  of 
the  London  Hospital,  stated  before  the  Parliamentary  com¬ 
mittee  on  drunkenness,  “  that  seventy-five  cases  of  disease  out  of 


118  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 

S 

every  hundred  could  be  traced  to  drinking, ”  and  that  “most  of 
the  bodies  of  moderate  drinkers,  which,  when  at  Edinburgh,  he 
had  opened,  were  found  diseased  in  the  liver, — and  those  symp¬ 
toms  appeared  also  in  the  bodies  of  temperate  people  which  he  had 
examined  in  the  West  Indies.”  lie  more  than  once  says  that 
the  bodies  whose  livers  he  had  found  diseased  were  those  of 
moral  and  religious  people. 

Dr.  T.  K.  Chambers,  in  his  Clinical  Lectures,  says  : 

“It  might  have  been  anticipated,  a  priori ,  that  the  diminished  vitality 
which  accompanies  the  use  of  alcohol  should  lead  to  a  diathesis,  of 
general  degeneration.  No  part  of  the  body  seems  exempt,  but  it  is  of 
course  most  notably  manifested  in  those  organs  which  are  of  the  first  neces¬ 
sity.  such  as  the  liver  and  the  kidneys.  Earliest,  probably,  of  all  parts 
of  the  body,  this  degeneration  commences  in  the  blood.  Dr.  Docker 
noticed  the  alterations  undergone  by  the  blood  of  habitual  alcohol  drinkers 
as  yet  in  good  health.  This  devitalized  condition  of  the  nutritive  fluid  is 
probably  the  first  step  to  the  devitalization  of  the  tissues  xohich  it  feeds. 
To  recapitulate  ;  we  think  that  the  evidence  so  far  as  it  has  yet  gone,  shows 
the  action  of  alcohol  upon  life  to  be  consistent  and  uniform  in  all  its  jihases, 
and  to  be  always  exhibited  as  an  arrest  of  vitality.  In  a  condition  of  health 
it  acts  in  some  measure  immediately  on  the  extremities  of  the.  nervous 
system  by  direct  contact,  and  is  also  carried  through  the  universal 
thoroughfare  of  the  circulation  to  the  brain.  To  nerve  tissue  chiefly  it 
adheres,  for  good  for  or  evil.  The  most  special  exhibition  of  disease  is  in 
the  special  function  of  the  nervous  system,  the  life  of  relation,  to  perform 
the  duties  of  which  the  devitalized  nerve  becomes  inadequate.  Then  the 
vegetable  life  suffers  ;  the  forms  of  tissue  become  of  a  lower  class,  of  a  class 
which  demands  less  vitality  for  growth  and  nourishment — connective  fibre 
takes  the  place  of  the  gland,  and  oil  of  connective  fibre.  The  circulation 
retains,  indeed,  its  industrious  activity,  but  receives  and  transmits  a  less 
valuable,  less  living  freight,  and  thus  becomes  the  cause,  as  well  as  the  effect 
of  diminished  vitality. — Medico -Chirurgical  Review ,  July,  1861. 

2. — The  moderate  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  induces  that  very 
lassitude,  and  that  depression  of  spirits,  lor  the  relief  of  which 
they  are  taken.  Moderate  drinkers,  as  a  class,  suffer  much  more 
from  a  sense  of  weariness  than  abstainers.  This  they  wrongly 
attribute  to  a  variety  of  causes,  but  the  real  cause  is  the  use  of 
the  depressant,  alcohol.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  in  every 
instance,  so  far  as  our  observation  and  knowledge  extend,  those 
moderate  drinkers  who  have  been  induced  to  try  abstinence,  have 
greatly  improved  in  health,  and  appetite,  and  spirits.  And  if 
any  failures  happen,  it  is  because  thoy  do  not  persevere  in  the 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  SIDNEY  SMITH.  119 

practice,  till  the  body  has  had  time  to  right  itself.  To  show 
the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  the  total  disuse  of  intoxicating 
lquor,  even  in  the  case  of  moderate  drinkers,  we  give  the 
testimony  of  that  brilliant  wit,  and  celebrated  writer,  Sidney 
bnmh.  During  the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  was  a  drinker,  but 
not  a  drunkard.  Latterly  he  became  an  abstainer,  and  after 
trying  this  plan  for  a  year,  he  thus  quaintly  records  his  experi¬ 
ence  in  a  letter  to  Lady  Holland  :  r 


Many  thanks  for  your  kind  anxiety  respecting  my  health  I  not 
only  was  never  better,  but  never  half  so  well.  Indeed,  I  find  that  I 
have  been  very  ill  all  my  life,  without  knowing  it.  Let  me  state  some 
of  the  good  arising  from  abstaining  from  all  fermented  liquors.  First 
sweet  sleep,  having  never  known  what  such  sweet  sleep  was-  I  sleep 
me  a  baby  or  a  plough-boy.  If  I  wake,  no  needless  terrors,  no  black 
visions  oi  life  but  pleasing  hopes  and  pleasing  recollections.  Holland 
House  past  and  to  come!  If  I  dream,  it  is  not  of  lions  and  tigers,  but 
of  Easter-dues  and  tithes.  Secondly,  I  can  take  longer  walks,  and  make 
greater  exertions,  without  fatigue.  My  understanding  is  improved,  and  I 
comprehend  political  economy.  I  see  belter  without  ivine  and  spectacles 
than  when  1  used  both.  Only  one  evil  ensues  from  it;  lam  hi  such 
entravagant  spirits,  that  I  must  lose  blood,  or  look  out  for  some  one  who 
will  bore  and  distress  me.  Pray  leave  olf  wine— the  stomach  quite  at  rest  • 
no  heart-burn,  no  pain,  no  distension." 


Testimonies  of  this  kind  could  be  greatly  multiplied. 

For  that  sense  of  weariness  and  oppression  arising  from  exces¬ 
sive  and  continued  toil,  either  physical  or  intellectual,  there  is  but 
one  real  remedy — rest.  Stimulants  only  exhaust  still  further 
whilst  narcotics,  though  they  may  deaden  for  a  time  the  sense  of 
exhaustion,  cannot,  reinvigorate  the  system.  The  anastcetic 
alcohol  may  for  a  time  procure  relief,  by  deadening  sensibility 
but  it  strikes  down  nature's  sentinel  that  calls  to  rest,  and  more 
rapidly  uses  up  the  remaining  strength.  So  that  premature 
exhaustion  and  death  may  be  the  result,  or  if  this  sad  catas¬ 
trophe  be  averted,  it  will  take  nature  a  longer  time  to  rally. 
Many  bright  intellects  have  been  quenched  in  the  darkness  of 
death,  because,  heedless  of  nature’s  admonition  to  rest,  they  have 
toiled  on,  with  the  sense  of  fatigue  deadened  for  a  time  by 
alcohol,  taken  perhaps  from  the  noblest  of  motives,  but  at  last 
the  vital  and  mental  powers  have  given  way,  and  all  hope  of 
saving  them  has  been  doomed  to  disappointment. 

3.  iho  habitual,  moderate  use  of  alcoholic  liquor  corrupts  and 


120  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 


impoverishes  the  blood,  and  is  thus  the  fruitful  source  of  that 
fatty  degeneration  of  the  tissues,  which  is  the  foundation  of  so 
many  intractable  maladies.  It  also  predisposes  to  gout  and 
rheumatism,  and  to  many  blood  diseases.  A  large  number  of 
the  upper  classes  suffer  very  severely  from  attacks  of  gout,  and 
many  of  them  are  finally  killed  by  this  troublesome  and  painful 
malady.  The  predisposition  to  this  disease  may  have  been 
inherited  from  their  wine-drinking  ancestors,  but  their  severe 
and  repeated  attacks  of  gout  are  brought  on,  for  the  most  part, 
by  their  own  liberal  potations,  acting  upon  the  predisposition. 
If  the  “  upper  ten  thousand”  would  but  give  up  their  bibulous 
proclivities,  and  take  to  a  plain,  nutritious,  non-alcoholic 
regimen,  they  would  be  much  less  troubled  with  this  complaint, 
and  in  a  few  generations  we  should  have  to  erase  it  from  the 
list  of  human  maladies. 

4.  _ The  habitual  moderate  use  of  intoxicants  produces  atony 

of  the  stomach  (want  of  tone  or  power  to  digest  food),  a  very 
frequent  complaint  among  moderate  drinkers  in  advanced  life. 
This  is  caused  by  years  of  narcotism  and  irritation,  and  is  a 
complaint  most  difficult  to  remove. 

5.  _ The  habitual  moderate  use  of  intoxicants  detracts  from 

the  working  power  of  the  constitution.  Other  things  being  equal, 
the  moderate  drinker  cannot  sustain  severe  and  prolonged  phy¬ 
sical  labor  upon  equal  terms  with  the  teetotaler.  Experience 
has  proved  this  most  incontestably. 

“The  following  statement,  forwarded  to  the  writer  (Dr. 
Carpenter)  from  Leeds,  was  signed  by  thirty-four  men,  (and  he 
was  assured  that  many  more  signatures  might  have  been  easily 
obtained)  engaged  in  laborious  employments;  out  of  whom 
twelve  belonged  to  the  class  whose  occupations  are  commonly 
regarded  as  peculiarly  trying,  seven  of  them  being  furnace-men 
at  foundries  and  gas-works,  two  of  them  sawyers,  one  a  white¬ 
smith,  one  a  glass-blower,  and  the  last  a  railway-guard.  ‘We 
the  undersigned,  having  practised  the  principles  of  total  absti¬ 
nence  from  all  intoxicating  liquors,  during  periods  ranging  from 
one  to  ten  years,  and  having,  during  that  time,  been  engaged 
in  very  laborious  occupations,  voluntarily  testify  that  we  are 
able  to  perform  our  toil  with  greater  ease  and  satisfaction 
to  ourselves  (and  we  believe,  more  to  the  satisfaction  of  our 
employers  also)  than  when  we  drank  moderately  of  these 
liquors ;  our  general  health  and  circumstances  have  also  been 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  EXPERIENCE. 


121 


considerably  improved.’  This  testimony  is  extremely  valuable, 
as  giving  the  comparative  results  of  abstinence  and  moderation; 
it  being  often  objected  to  statements  of  this  kind,  that  they  are 
only  true  of  the  difference  between  abstainers  and  drunkards .” 
— Physiology  of  Temperance,  p.  117. 

e  have  conversed  with  teetotalers  working  as  chain-makers 
and  glass-blowers  in  Sunderland,  who  say,  to  a  man,  that  since 
they  tried  the  abstinent  plan,  they  can  sustain  their  severe 
labor  and  the  high  temperature  in  which  they  are  compelled  to 
work,  with  much  greater  edse  and  for  longer  hours  now  than  for¬ 
merly,  while  they  do  not  suffer  from  that  sense  of  exhaustion 
after  their  day  s  work  which  they  before  experienced. 

In  January,  1869,  we  descended  the  Ityhope  coal  mine,  near 
Sunderland,  in  company  with  Mr.  Fairley  the  under  viewer,  a 
zealous  and  consistent  teetotaler.  The  pit  is  one  of  the. deepest, 
and  the  temperature  in  the  workings  is  very  high.  We  made 
extensive  inquiries  among  the  hewers  as  to  how  they  managed 
their  hard  work,  and  if  they  did  not  drink  plenty  of  beer  and 
whisky  to  help  them  through.  To  a  man  they  informed  us 
that  they  could  not  work  upon  beer  or  whisky,  and  that  the 
only  beverage  they  took  down  with  them  was  a  bottle  of  weak 
tea  or  cold  water.  This  is  thh  common  practice  amongst  the 
coabminers  throughout  the  Northern  coal  fields.  Those  among 
them  who  drink,  do  so,  not  down  the  pit,  but  during  their  idle 
hours. 

^  e  have  conversed  with  abstainers  working  as  puddlers, 
sbinglers,  etc.,  at  the  iron  works  at  Darlington,  Middlesbro’ 
Consett,  Witton  Park,  etc.,  and"  they  inform  us  that,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  severity  and  intense  heat  of  their  work,  they  can 
sustain  it  with  nruch  greater  ease  and  comfort  upon  water  than 
upon  beer. 

The  following  shows  the  comparative  efficacy  of  tea  and  coffee, 
and  of  beer,  in  sustaining  severe  and  protracted  labor. 

During  the  hay  harvest  of  1869,  Mr. - ,  of  U- — ,  a  brewer, 

who  had  some  hay  fields,  was  most  anxious  to  complete  his  hay 
harvest  upon  a  certain  day.  To  encourage  his  men  to  do  their 
best,  he  promised  that,  if  they  worked  hard,  they  should  have 
plenty  of  good  Tommy  {food),  and  plenty  of  good  beer.  He  kept 
h:s  word,  and  gave  them  a  very  liberal  supply  of  both.  The 
men  worked  very  hard  till  three  o’clock  p.  m.,  at  which  time  they 
were  so  terribly  exhausted  that  they  could  work  no  longer. 


122  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 

What  was  to  he  done?  The  hay  was  not  yet  secured,  and  tho 
men  were  completely  done  up  with  the  heat  of  the  weather  and 
their  own  severe  exertions.  Under  these  circumstances,  the 
brewer’s  wife  suggested  that  as  beer  had  failed,  they  had  better 
try  tea  and  coffee.  Accordingly  these  beverages  were  prepared 
and  taken  to  the  men,  lying  exhausted  in  the  field.  In  a  very 
short  time  they  were  so  revived  that  they  were  able  to  resume 
their  work,  and  to  continue  at  it  till  nine  o  clock  p.m  ,  at  which 
time  the  hay  was  all  gathered  in.  This  effect  of  tea  and  coffee 

appeared  so  wonderful  to  Mrs. - ,  that  she  could  not  keep  the 

secret  •,  so  the  news  rapidly  spread  through  the  town,  that  tea 
and  coffee  had  proved  stronger  than  the  brewer  s  strongest 

ale ! 

A  Mr. - ,  who  a  few  years  ago  used  frequently  to  travel  on 

foot  between  Newcastle  and  Felton,  a  distance  of  thirty  miles, 
informed  us,  that  when  he  performed  tho  journey  on  tea  and 
coffee,  or  used  the  “ pure  element,”  he  came  off  as  fresh  as  a 
daisy,  and  felt  no  inconvenience,  but  that  when  he  attempted  to 
do  the  journey  upon  beer,  he  always  felt  terribly  “  knocked  up, 
and  worth  nothing  the  day  following. 

Though  alcohol,  by  increasing  the  heart’s  action,  may  appear 
for  a  time  to  arouse  the  flagging-energies,  yet  it  very  rapidly  uses 
up  the  “vital  force.” 

The  late  James  Backhouse,  of  York,  who,  in  one  year  and 
seven  months  travelled  6,000  miles  in  the  interior  of  Africa, 
two  thousand  in  wagons,  and  four  thousand  on  horseback,  with 
the  thermometer  sometimes  at  100°,  sometimes  at  25  ,  frequently 
with  frosts  and  snows,  and  sometimes  so  hot  at  night  that  he 
slept  in  the  open  air,— found  no  necessity  whatever  for  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquors,  nor  the  slightest  inconvenience  from  being  a 
teetotaler*,  on  the  contrary,  he  says,  “total  abstinence  agreed 
'  with  me  exceedingly  well.”  So  with  I)r.  Livingstone. 

The  following,  given  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  the  physiologist,  is 
very  conclusive : 

“The  author  met,  some  years  since,  with  a  gentleman  who  had  re¬ 
cently  commanded  a  vessel  during  a  voyage  from  bew  South  Wales  to 
England,  under  the  following  peculiar  circumstances.  Soon  after  passing 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  ship  sprung  so  bad  a  leak,  as  to  require 
the  continued  labor,  not  merely  of  the  crew,  but  of  the  officers  and 
passengers,  to  keep  her  afloat  by  the  use  of  the  pumps  during  the  le 
mainder  of  her  voyage,  a  period  of  nearly  three  months.  At  first,  the 
men  were  greatly  fatigued  at  the  termination  of  their  spell  at.  tu© 


nature’s  own  beverage,  water  the  best.  123 


pump?,  and  after  drinking  their  allowance  of  grog,  would  ‘turn  in' 
without  taking  a  proper  supply  of  nourishment.  The  consequence  was, 
that  their  vigor  was  decidedly  diminishing,  and  their  feeling  of  fatigue 
ol  course  increasing,  as  our  physiological  knowledge  would  lead  us  to 
expect  By  direction  of  their  commander,  coffee  and  cocoa  were  sub¬ 
stituted  for  the  grog,  a  hot  ‘mess’  of  these  beverages  being  provided 
with  the  biscuit  and  meat  at  the  conclusion  of  every  watch.  It  was 
then  found  that  the  men  felt  inclined  for  a  good  meal  of  the  latter;  when 
the  more  direct  but  less  effective  refreshment  of  alcoholic  liquor  was 
withdrawn,  their  vigor  returned,  their  fatigue  diminished;  and  after 
twelve  weeks  of  incessant  and  severe  labor  (with  no  interval  longer 
than  four  hours),  the  ship  was  brought  into  port  with  all  on  board  of  her 
in  as  good  condition  as  ever  they  were  in  their  lives.”— Physioloqv  of 
Temperance,  p.  121. 


All  trainers  wishing  to  bring  up  their  men  to  the  highest 
possible  degree  of  efficiency,  and  to  develop  to  the  highest  pitch 
the  physical  energies,  use  alcoholic  liquors  butsparingly,  and  very 
much  diluted,  whilst  our  best  trainers,  in  imitation  of  the  ancient 
Greek  athletes,  do  not  employ  strong  drink  at  all,  experience 
having  taught  them  that  plain  food  and  exercise  are  the  most 
effective  conditions. 

Nature's  own  beverage,  “the  pure  element,”  acts  in  harmony 
with  the  human  constitution,  and  aids  in  giving  firmness  to  the 
nerves,  and  strength  to  the  muscles.  Alcohol,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  antagonistic  to  the  human  constitution,  it  renders  the 
nerves  unsteady,  and  weakens  and  effeminates  the  body.  A 
passage  in  Byron  s  ‘'Tragedy  of  Sardanapalus  ”  verv  beautifully 
illustrates  this  point.  The  luxurious  and  effeminate  monarch, 
upon  the  revolt  of  Beleses  and  Arbascs,  when  besieged  by  their 
forces  in  his  palace,  is  represented  as  surprising  his  followers, 
and  inspiring  them  with  courage,  by  his  deeds  of  valor.  After 
repulsing  the  enemy,  ho  retires  to  his  palace,  exhausted  and 
wounded.  Salamenes,  his  bravest  general  and  wisest  counsellor, 
addressing  himself  to  the  king,  said  : 

“  This  great  hour  has  proved 
The  brightest  and  most  glorious  of  your  life. 

Sardanapalus—  And  the  most  tiresome.  Where’s  my  cup- bearer? 
Bring  me  some  water. 


Sal—  (smiling).  'Tis  the  first  time  he 

Evei  had  such  an  order :  even  I, 

Tour  most  austere,  o t  counsellors,  would  now 

Suggest  a  purpler  beverage! 


124  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 


Sar. — Blood  — doubtless. 

But  there’s  enough  of  that  shed  ;  as  for  wine, 

I  have  '.earn’d  to  right  the  price  of  the  pure  element; 

Thrice  have  I  drank  of  it,  and  thrice  renew’d, 

With  greater  strength  than  the  grape  ever  gave  me, 

Mv  charge  upon  the  rebe  s.  Where’s  the  soldier 
Who  gave  me  water  in  his  helmet? 

One  of  the  Guard. —  Slain,  sire! 

An  arrow  pierced  his  brain,  while,  scattering 
The  last  drops  from  his  helm,  he  stood  in  act 
To  place  it  on  his  brow. 

gar _  Slain  !  unrewarded  ! 

And  s’ain  to  serve  my  thirst:  that’s  hard,  po^r  slave! 

Had  he  but  lived,  I  would  have  gorged  him  with 

Gold:  all  the  gold  of  earth  could  ne'er  repay 

The.  pleasure  of  that  draught;  for  I  was  parched 

-As  I  am  now.  [They  bring  water — he  drinks 

I  live  again — from  henceforth 
The  goblet  I  reserve  for  hours  of  love, 

But  war  on  water. ’’ 


Wine  may  do  well  enough  for  men  who  live  effeminate  and 
•worthless  lives,  and  who  have  no  other  ambition  than  to  stir  up 
and  gratify  their  passions;  but  if  we  wish  to  act  our  part  as 
men^upon  the  stage  of  time,  to  conquer  the  unruly  passions 
within,  and  the  foes  without  us,  we  must  drink  water. 

0  —The  habitual  moderate  us.  of  intoxicants  detracts  from  the 
thinking  power  of  the  brain. 

All  great  and  continuous  thinkers  are  either  teetotalers,  or 
next  door  to  it,  and  if  they  drink  at  all,  it  is  not  till  after  the 
mental  task  is  finished.  Poets,  it  is  true,  are  an  exception.  It 
is  in  the  nature  of  alcohol  to  excite  for  a  time  the  imagination, 
and  to  produce  a  wild  play  of  the  fancy.  These  are  faculties 
upon  which  vcrv  heavy  demands  are  made  in  the  composition  of 
poetry,  and  hence  a  poet  may  write  very  brilliantly  under  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  alcohol ;  but  not  so  with  the  mathematician,  the  philoso¬ 
pher,  or  those  who  are  engaged  in  solving  difficult  problems  in 
political  or  mental  philosophy.  The  primary  action  of  alcohol  is 
to  obscure  the  perceptive  powers,  and  to  pervert  the  reasoning 
faculties,  and  thus  to  detract  from  the  real  working  power  of 
the  brain.  There  are  numerous  instances  of  great  intellectual 
workers  who  have  tried  both  systems,  and  the  almost  uniform 
testimony  of  this  class  is,  that  they  can  get  through  their  work 


TESTIMONIES  IN  FAVOR  OF  ABSTINENCE.  225 

with  much  greater  ease  and  comfort  to  themselves  without 
alcohol  than  with  it.  The  great  Richard  Cobdcn,  M.  P  per¬ 
formed  his  herculean  labors  upon  tea  and  water.  He  says  • _ 

“  The  more  work  I  have  to  do,  the  more  I  have  resorted  to  the 
pump  and  the  teapot.” 

Mr.  S.  C.  Hall,  the  well-known  editor  of  the  Art  Journal ,  gives 
the  following  testimony:— “He  lived  by  the  labor  of  his  brain, 
and  he  could  testily  that  since  he  had  become  a  teetotaler,  he 
had  an  increase  of  intellectual  power,  so  that  what  he  sent  out 
to  the  public  never  came  trickling  through  a  disturbed  and  dis¬ 
ordered  medium.  As  to  endurance  of  fatigue,  he  was  able  to 
work  three  tunes  longer  than  ever  he  could  while  he  indulged 
even  moderately ,  in  the  use  of  strong  drinks.  He  was  bette?  in 
body,  in  mind,  in  home,  in  every  comfort;  and  he  felt  proud, 
therefore,  of  the  pledge  he  had  taken  to  abide  by  the  practice  of 
entire  abstinence.” 

Hugh  Miller,  one  of  the  world’s  great  workers,  of  whom 
Scotland  may  well  be  proud,  says: 

“ihe  workmen  had  a  'foundling  pint,'  and  two  glasses  of  whisky 
came  to  my  share.  A  full-grown  man  would  not  have  deemed  a  gill  of 
usquebaugh  an  over-dose,  but  it  was  considerably  too  much  for  me;  and 
w  ien  the  party  broke  up,  and  I  got  home  to  my  books,  I  found  as  I 
opened  the  pages  of  a  favorite  author,  the  letters  dancing  before  my 
eyes,  and  that  I  could  no  longer  master  the  sense.  I  have  the  volume 
at  present  before  me— a  small  edition  of  the  Essays  of  Bacon. 

ie  condition  into  which  I  had  brought  myself  was,  I  felt,  one  of  dewa- 
dat.on.  I  had  sunk  by  my  own  act,  for  the  time,  to  a  lower  level"  of 
intelligence  than  that  on  which  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  placed:  and 
though  the  state  could  have  been  no  very  favorable  one  for  forming  a 
resolution,  I  in  that,  lrour  determined  that!  would  never  again  sacrifice 
my  capacity  of  intellectual  enjoyment  to  a  drinking  usage,  and,  with  God’s 
ne.p,  1  was  enabled  to  hold  by  the  determination.”* 

From  public  speakers,  ministers  of  the  gospel,  members  of 
Parliament,  and  members  of  the  medical  profession,  numerous 
testimonies  corroborate  the  fact,  that  the  drinking  of  alcohol 
detracts  from  the  working  power  of  the  brain.  Indeed,  men  who 
attempt  t^>  perform  their  intellectual  work  by  the  aid  of  narcotics- 
stand  in  peculiar  danger.  The  exhaustion  following  their  use 
is  so  great  as  to  lead  the  unwary  victims  to  resort  to  larger  and 
still  larger  potations,  till  at  last  they  become  enslaved  and  ruined 

to^he  last!— Ei^Ve  "  ^  ^  ^  Splendid  writer  had  adh^ed  to  this  plan 


126  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OP  ALCOHOL. 


both  in  body  and  in  mind.  Many  of  our  most  brilliant  orators 
and  poets,  and  multitudes  of  our  ablest  authors  have  fallen  in 
this  way;  and  yet  their  fall  appears  to  be  no  warning  to  those 
who  are  following  in  the  same  mistaken  career. 

7. — The  habitual  use  of  intoxicants  detracts  from  the  power  of 
the  constitution  to  adapt  itself  to  great  climatic  changes.  A 
world- wide  experience  proves  this.  From  India  and  Africa,  from 
America  and  Australia,  and  the  ice-bound  regions  of  the  North 
Pole,  is  borne  the  testimony  that  the  moderate  drinker  succumbs 
to  the  trying  circumstances  under  which  he  is  placed,  whilst  the 
abstainer  endures  them  with  impunity. 

Says  Dr.  Mosely,  in  his  work  on  Tropical  Diseases:  “I  have 
ever  found  from  my  knowledge  and  custom,  as  well  as  from  the 
custom  and  observation  of  others,  that  those  who  drink  nothing 
but  water,  or  make  it  their  particular  drink,  are  but  little 
affected  by  the  climate,  and  can  undergo  the  greatest  fatigue 
without  inconvenience.” 

The  west  coast  of  Africa  is  very  fatal  indeed  to  the  lives  of 
Europeans,  and  it  is  certainly  very  sad  to  contemplate  the  high 
rate  of  mortality  among  those  noble  and  self-denying  men,  the 
missionaries,  who,  from  the  purest  of  motives,  have  attempted 
to  establish  themselves  upon  that  portion  of  the  African  Con- 
tiii<  nt  * 

Livingstone,  in  all  his  African  wanderings,  has  been  a  water- 
drinker  on  principle.  In  his  greatest  journey,  he  started  with 
one  bottle  of  brandy  as  a  medicine;  but  it  was  accidentally 
broken  within  the  first  few  days,  and  its  loss  was  not  felt. 

The  Rev.  C.  Rattray,  a  zealous  and  well-known  missionary  in 
Demerara,  thus  writes,  (Dec.  9,  1852) : 

“When  I  arrived  in  this  colony  I  was  fully  assured  by  all  with 
whom  I  happened  to  become  acquainted,  that  the  daily  use  of  some 
stimulant  was  required  to  keep  up  the  strength  and  to  sustain  the  system 
under  the  incessant  drain  of  perspiration  to  which  it  is  subjected  in  a 
tropical  climate.  Then,  in  this  low,  swampy  land,  such  stimulant  was 
the  more  necessary.  The  universal  practice  was  quite  in  keeping  with 
that  opinion;  and.  without  giving  the  matter  much  consideration, 
believing  what  everybody  else  seemed  to  believe,  and  doing  as  others 
did,  I  adopted  the  prevalent  custom.  It  is  now  about  thirteen  years 

*  There  has  l>e<m  a  needless  sacrifice  of  life,  because  many  good  men 
have  been  carried  off.  not  so  much  by  the  climate,  as  by  the  brandy  and  wine 
they  have  taken,  under  the  delusion  that  they  were  necessary  to  enable 
them  to  resist  the  deadly  malaria. 


TESTIMONIES  IN  FAVOR  OF  ABSTINENCE.  127 

since  I  adopted  the  abstinent  principle,  and  I  am  fully  convinced  that  1 
have  during  that  period  enjoyed  better  health  than  I  should  have  done 
had  I  accustomed  myself  to  the  moderate  use  of  any  kind  of  strong  drink. 
I  have  enjoyed  almost  uninterrupted  health,  and  after  more  than  eighteen 
years’  residence  as  a  missionary  in  this  not  very  invigorating  climate,  1 
cannot  say  that  I  am,  as  yet,  conscious  of  any  feeling  of  abatement  in  my 
wonted  strength.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  all  my  missionary  brethren  are 

a  ?0  teet<>ta!ers,  and#I  am  quite  sure  that  their  testimony  will  be  in  precise 
accordance  with  my  own.” 

Professor  James  Miller,  the  eminent  surgeon  of  Edinburgh 
says:  ’ 

“Lately  I  had  the  advantage  of  conversing  on  this  subject  with  the 
veteran  Governor  of  Gambia;  [who]  having  passed  nearly  twenty-seven 
years  of  his  life  in  foreign  service,  ‘within  the  tropics,  and  frequently  in 
the  most  unhealthy  stations,’  attributes  the  preservation  of  his  life  and 
health,,  under  God,  mainly  to  this,  that  from  the  first  he  eschewed 
alcoholics  and  tobacco.  A  very  large  proportion  of  his  comrades  he 
has  laid  in  the  grave,  and  he  accounts  for  their  pre-decease,  not  by  any 
difference  in  their  constitution  or  service,  but  solely  by  the  difference  of 
their  regimen.  At  first  he  tried  both  ways  of  it,  and  on  that  account 
his  evidence  is  all  the  more  valuable.  In  many  arduous,  extensive,  and 
severe  expeditions,  I  used  solely  tea  as  my  beverage;  and  I  always  felt 
free  from  fever  and  thirst,  well  sustained,  up  to  any  work  (even  with 
the  mercury  120°  in  the  shade,)  as  hard  as  a  flint.  But,  on  the  contrary, 

when  I  used  the  usual  liquids  imbibed  by  travellers  in  the  tropics _ 

brandy,  or  rum  and  water,  pale  ale,  Barclay’s  XXX— I  was  invariably 
heated  and  thirsty,  muscles  relaxed,  nerves  irritable,  temper  ditto  -  and 
what  on  other  occasions  constituted  pleasing  exertion,  became  more  or 
less  labor.  '  I  have  (says  he)  served  or  lived  in  all  the  West  Indian 
colonies,  and  been  in  Africa  too,  and  I  never  knew  a  dram-drinker,  a 
soaker,  a  jolly  trump — be  he  of  the  military,  medical,  legal,  commer¬ 
cial,  or  any  other  profession— long-lived,  healthy,  or  always  equal  to  the 
duties  he  ivas  paid  for ,  and  called  upon  to  perform /  ...  In  1846 
‘  I  joined  a  party  that  made  the  ascent  of  the  Blue  Mountain  Peak' 
Jamaica— an  elevation  of  8,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  After 
riding  thirty  miles,  we  commenced  climbing  up  the  last  2,000  feet 
and  accomplished  the  task  in  three  hours,  forty  minutes.  There  was 
no  path  or  track  sufficient  to  steady  a  goat;  we  had  to  hold  on  by  the 
trunks,  branches,  and  roots  of  trees  and  plants,  climbing  up  hand  over¬ 
hand  without  relaxing  our  exertions  until  we  reached"  the  summit  I 
indulged  m  cold  tea:  my  friends  in  libations  of  champagne,  pale  ale 
porter,-  or  brandy  and  water;  and  the  result  was,  that  the  more  they 
drank,  the  more  thirsty  they  were.  When  we  gained  the  peak,  some 
reached  unable  to  enjoy  the  romantic  view;  others  flung  themselves  on 
the  ground  exhausted,  declaring  that  if  they  were  caught  again  ascend¬ 
ing,  why— no  matter  what.  We  remained  the  night,  which  proved 


]28  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 

bitterly  cold;  the  mercury  falling  from  from  95°  to  freezing  point.  I  still 
continued  constant  to  the  China  leaf,  and  next  day  made  the  descent 
fresher  and  more  vigorous  than  any  of  the  party,  although  I  did  lose 
— what  I  could  ill  afford  to  spare  from  my  thin  carcass — three  pounds  in 
twenty-four  hours."’ 

Some  years  ago  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Schtin,  church  missionary  at 
Sierra  Leone,  a  most  noxious  climate,  observed  : — “We  begin  to 
see  that  we  can  live  even  in  West  Africa  without  the  aid  of 
alcoholic  drinks.  Since  I  have  abstained ,  I  have  found  my  health 
much  better  than  before .” 

British  Guiana  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  most  unhealthy  por¬ 
tions  of  the  world.  It  consists  in  great  part  of  marsh  land,  the 
exhalations  raised  from  which  by  the  sun,  render  the  air  exceed- 
ingly  pestiferous.  There  are  here,  however,  10,000  teetotalers, 
the  experience  of  whom  is  thus  testified  by  the  Rev.  E.  Davis: 
“In  our  own  persons  we  have  demonstrated  that  the  English 
constitution  can  stand  better  in  this  deadly  climate  without  any 
intoxicating  drinks  whatever.” 

The  moderate  use  of  alcohol  must  lessen  the  power  of  endur¬ 
ance  of  extreme  and  continued  heat,  not  only  because  it  rapidly 
uses  up  the  physical. energy,  but  because  it  also  lessens  insensible 
perspiration,  whereby  the  body  becomes  feverish  and  heated, 
inducing  a  sense  of  languor  and  oppression. 

As  alcohol  exhausts  “  vital  force,”  and  lowers  the  temperature 
of  the  body,  its  use  in  very  cold  climates  must  diminish  the 
power  of  endurance. 

Arctic  experience  attests  this.  “Captain  Parry  mentions 
with  surprise,  that  he  saw  an  Esquimaux  female  uncover  her 
bosom,  and  give  her  child  suck  in  the  open  air,  when  its  tem¬ 
perature  was  forty  degrees  below  zero.'1'1  Sir  John  Richardson, 
in  a  letter  to  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter,  states  that  “  plenty  of  food 
and  sound  digestion  are  the  best  sources  of  heat,”  and  that 
“  a  Canadian  with  seven  or  eight  pounds  of  good  beef  or  veni¬ 
son  in  his  stomach,  will  resist  the  greatest  degree  of  natural 
cold  in  the  open  air,  and  thinly  clad,  if  there  be  not  a  strong 
wind.”  “I  am  quite  satisfied  that  spirituous  liquors,  though 
they  give  a  temporary  stimulus,  diminish  the  power  ol  re¬ 
sisting  cold.  We  found  on  our  northern  journey  that  tea 
was  much  more  refreshing  than  wine  or  spirits,  which  we 
soon  ceased  to  care  for,  while  a  craving  for  the  tea  in¬ 
creased.” 


TESTIMONIES  IN  FAVOR  OF  ABSTINENCE.  129 

Sir  John  Richardson  further  stated  that  the  experience  of  his 
last  expedition  (undertaken  in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin) 
full}  boie  out  the  statements  he  had  made  before  proceeding  on 
it;  the  whole  party  having  sustained  the  full  severity  of  an 
arctic  winter,  in  a  manner  in  which  he  was  confident  they  could 

not  have  dene,  if  even  a  moderate  allowance  of  spirits  had  been 
employed. 

I)r.  Hooker,  one  of  the  medical  officers  in  the  expedition 
under  the  command  of  Sir  James  Ross,  thus  writes  to  Dr. 
Carpenter:— “Several  of  the  men  on  board  our  ship,  and 
amongst  them  some  of  the  best,  never  touched  grog  during  one 
or  more  of  the  antarctic  cruises.  They  were  not  one  whit  the 
worse  for  their  abstinence,  but  enjoyed  the  same  perfect  health 
that  all  the  crew- did  throughout  the  four  years’  voyage.  I  do 
think  that  the  use  of  spirits  in  cold  weather  is  generally  pre¬ 
judicial.  I  speak  from  my  own  experience.  It  is  very  plea¬ 
sant.  The  glass  of  grog  warms  the  mouth,  the  throat,  and 
the  abdomen;  and  this,  when  one  is  wet  and  cold,  with  no 
fire,  and  just  before  turning  into  damp  blankets,  is  very  enticing. 
Lut  it  never  did  me  one  atom  of  good;  the  extremities  are  not 
warmed  by  it,  and  when  a  continuance  of  exertion  or  endurance 
is  called  for,  the  spirit  does  harm,  jfor  then  you  are  colder  or  more 

fatigued  a  quarter  or  half  an  hour  after  it  than  you  would  have 
been  without  it'1 

Experience  has  taught  the  Russian  military  authorities  that 
spirit  is  inimical  to  the  strength  and  the  power  of  endurance  of 
the  Russian  soldier.  Accordingly  they  “  interdict  its  use  abso¬ 
lutely  in  the  army,  when  troops  are  about  to  move  during  extreme 
cold;  part  of  the  duty  of  the  corporals  being  to  smell  carefully 
the  breath  of  each  man  on  the  morning  parade,  and  to  turn 
back  irom  the  march  those  who  have  indulged  in  spirits,  it 
having  been  found  that  such  men  are  peculiarly  subject  to* bo 
frost-bitten  and  otherwise  injured.”— Prof.  Miller,  Alcohol ,  its 
Place  and  Power,  p.  1G0. 

Dr.  Carpenter  informs  us— “The  Hudson’s  Bay  Company 
have  for  many  years  entirely  excluded  spirits  from  the  fur 
countries  to  the  north,  over  which  they  have  exclusive  control, 
‘to  the  great  improvement,’  as  Sir  John  Richardson  states,  ‘of 

the  health  and  morals  of  their  Canadian  servants,  and  of  tha 
Indian  tribes.’” 

8.— The  habitual  moderate  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  shortens  ' 


130 


THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 

life.  This,  indeed,  we  might  reasonably  conclude  from  the 
known  physiological  action  of  alcohol.  But  have  we  any  means 
of  proving  it?  If  we  take  isolated,  cases, — No!  But  if  we  take 
large  numbers, — Yes! 

At  the  select  conference  on  Temperance,  held  at  Birmingham, 
September  20th,  1869,  Mr.  John  Rutherford  made  the  following 
statement.  He  said  : — “  He  was  connected  with  an  Assurance 
office,  which  had  issued  40,000  policies ;  30,000  to  moderate 
drinkers,  and  10,000  to  teetotalers.  It  did  not  take  publicans, 
brewers,  or  free-drinkers — only  teetotalers  and  moderate  drinkers. 
The  mortality  tables  of  these  two  classes  were  kept  separately. 
During  the  first  30  years  the  mortality  of  the  teetotalers  was 
19  per  cent,  less  than  that  of  moderate  drinkers,  and  during  the 
last  eight  years,  25  per  cent,  less.1’  The  following  particulars 
may  be  added : 

“  The  United  Kingdom  Temperance  and  General  Provident  Institution 
was  formed  in  1840,  and  for  nearly  ten  years  no  lives  but  those  of  ab¬ 
stainers  were  insured.  Throughout  those  years  the  rate  of  mortality 
was  exceedingly  low.  In  1850,  a  distinct  section  was  opened  for  the 
insurance  of  lives  of  non-abstainers,  every  precaution  being  taken  to 
exclude  intemperate  persons  and  free-livers.  Since  1850  three  bonuses 
have  been  declared — 1855-1860-1865.  The  surpluses  which  had  oc¬ 
curred  to  the  Whole  Life  Department  of  the  Temperance  Section  gave 
reversionary  bonuses,  ranging  according  to  the  age  *f  the  assured,  from 
35  to  75  per  cent,  on  the  premiums  paid  in  1855;  from  35  to  86  per 
cent,  in  1860;  and  from  23  to  56  per  cent,  in  1865.  In  the  General 
Section  the  bonuses  ranged  from  23  to  50  per  cent,  in  1855;  from  24 
to  59  percent,  in  1860;  and  from  17  to  52  percent,  in  1865.  In  the 
report  for  186S  the  following  paragraph  appeared:  ‘The  Actuary, 
Mr.  Samuel  Brown,  reports  that  the  mortality  of  the  Whole  Life 
Policies  has  been  as  follows,  viz: — Expected  claims  in  the  temperance 
section,  109  for  £20,024;  actual  claims,  95  for  £16.526.  In  the  general 
section,  201  claims  for  £30,515  were  expected;  the  actual  have  been 
179  for  £51,055,  less  £15,000  received  from  reassurance.  Hence  the 
net  claims  in  this  department  have  been  £36,055.  The  net  result  for  the 
three  years  which  have  elapsed  since  the  last  division  of  profits,  is  as 
follows,  viz*  314  claims  expected  for  £56,974  in  the  temperance  section, 
the  actual  have  been  251  for  £40,779;  572  claims  expected  in  the  general 
section  for  £111,250.  the  actual  have  been  534  for  £107,184.’” — See  Gra¬ 
ham's  Temperance  Guide  for  1870. 

On  comparing  the  number  of  deaths  that  occurred  in  several 
of  the  most  eminent  Life  Assurance  offices  during  the  first  five 
years  of  their  existence,  with  the  number  that  occurred  during 


* 

THE  USE  OF  STRONG  DRINK  SHORTENS  LIFE.  131 

t7ie  same  period  among  the  members  of  this  institution,  the 
difference  in  favor  of  the  latter  shows  the  advantages  of  ab¬ 
stinence.  Thus,  the  policies  issued  by  four  of  the” principal 
offices  amounted  to  6,153,  and  the  number  of  deaths  to  117’- 
being  on  the  average  almost' twenty  deaths  out  of  each  thousand 
members.  In  the  same  period  the  Temperance  Provident  In¬ 
stitution  issued  1,596  policies,  and  had  only  twelve  deaths,  or 
7£  per  thousand  ;  being  nearly  one-half  less  than  the  deaths  in 
the  most  healthy  of  the  no/i-teetotal  offices.  The  state  of  mor¬ 
tality  among  the  members  of  each  office  was  as  follows : 

Policies .  Deaths. 

1st  office  issued  838  and  had  11  being  13  per  thousand. 

2d  “  1,901  “  27  “  14  “ 

3d  u  944  11  14  “  15  « 

4th  “  2,470  “  65  “  26  “ 

Temp.  Prov.  Ins.  1,596  “  12  u  71  u 

During  a  period  of  thirteen  months,  ending  in  August,  1846, 
"when  the  above  statistics  were  published,  only  two  deaths  had 
taken  place  in  the  whole  number  of  the  assured — “a  fact  which 
it  can  hardly  be  questioned,  is  unparalleled  among  the  same 
number  of  persons  in  any  class  of  society;  and  which  reduces 
the  deaths  to  an  average  of  only  3 \  per  thousand  in  each  year  l'1 
“  Sir  Alexander  Morrison  (medical  director  to  the  largest  office 
in  the  world),  Dr.  Morgan,  of  Bath,  and  other  eminenr  medical 
directors,  have  stated  the  members  generally  of  the  temperance 
institution  to  be  equal  to  the  select  or  most  favorable  lives  in 
all  other  offices .”  ( The  Teetotaler's  Companion :  by  Peter  Burne 

p.  411.)  At  the  age  of  40  years,  the  annual  rate  of  mortality 
among  the  whole  population  of  England  is  about  13  per  1,000  ; 
whilst  among  the  lives  assured  in  life  offices  it  is  about  11  per 
1,000;  and  in  those  insured  in  friendly  societies,  it  is  about  10  per 
1,000.  The  lower  rate  of  mortality  among  members  of  Assurance 
offices  and  of  Benefit  societies  is  to  be  chiefly  attributed  to  the 
fact,  that  they  are  in  general  more  temperate  in  their  habits  than 
the  population  generally,  which,  of  course,  must  include  alike 
the  free-drinker  and  the  drunkard.  When  wo  come  to  divide 
the  members  of  Life  offices  and  of  Benefit  societies  into  ab¬ 
stainers  and  non-abstainers,  we  find  at  once  the  advantage 
decidedly  in  favor  of  the  abstaining  members.  Among  the 
Rechabites  a  sine  qua  non  of  membership  is  a  pledge  of  abstinence 
from  intoxicating  liquors.  According  to  eminent  actuaries,  the 


132  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 

average  mortality  among  Friendly  Societies  is  rather  more  than 
10  per  1,000-,  among  the  Rcchabites  the  mortality  is  only 
per  1,000. 

The  average  duration  of  life  throughout  the  community,  in¬ 
cluding  all  ages,  is  about  42  years.  Among  the  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  deducting  the  deaths  at  all  ages  as  before, 
the  average  duration  of  life  is  55  years.  Now  a  very  large  pro¬ 
portion  of  Friends  are  abstainers,  and  the  remainder  very 
temperate  and  regular  in  their  habits. 

Moderate  drinkers,  as  a  class,  are  far  more  liable  to  attacks  of 
disease  than  teetotalers,  and  when  thus  attacked,  die  off  in  large 
numbers.  Dr.  Munroe,  of  Hull,  says: —  4 1  have  had  for  the  last 
seven  years  much  experience  in  the  medical  attendance  upon 
persons  who  are  total  abstainers.  During  that  period  hundreds 
of  that  class  of  persons  have  been  under  my  care.  I  find  that, 
as  a  class,  they  do  not  suffer  from  anything  like  the  amount  of 
sickness  experienced  by  moderate  drinkers  of  intoxicating 
drinks;  that  when  they  are  sick,  the  sickness  is  much  more, 
amenable  to  treatment,  and,  necessarily,  they  are  sooner  well 
again.  ‘Moreover,  I  am  convinced  that  in  many  cases  the 
patient’s  recovery  was  entirely  owing  to  a  life  of  previous 
abstinence  from  intoxicating  beverages.  On  comparing  the 
results  of  sickness  and  death  occurring  in  two  large  friendly 
societies  under  my  care,  the  one  composed  of  total  abstainers 
and  the  other  of  non-abstainers,  I  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  the  total  abstainers  have  much  better  health,  are  liable  to  a 
much  less  amount  of  sickness,  and  have  fewer  deaths  than  the 
moderate  drinkers.  In  the  non-abstinent  society  I  find  that  the 
average  amount  of  sickness  experienced  last  year  was  eleven  days 
twenty-one  hours  per  member,  and  that  the  number  of  deaths 
was  about  one  and  a-half  per  cent.  In  the  total  abstinent 
society  the  amount  of  sickness  experienced  last  year  did  not 
amount  to  more  than  one  day  and  three-quarters  per  member, 
and  the  number  of  deaths  was  only  two  in  five  years,  or  less  than 
one-quarter  per  cent,  per  annum.” 

The  experience  of  the  Indian  army  also  confirms  our  position. 
There  are  fewer  deaths  and  less  sickness  among  the  total  abstain¬ 
ing  soldiers,  in  proportion  to  their  number,  than  among  either 
the  moderate  drinkers  or  drunkards.  In  the  Government 
Returns  of  the  sickness  and  mortality  of  the  European  troops 
forming  the  Madras  army,  for  the  year  1849,  in  which  the  meq 


MODERATE  DRINKERS  DIE  PREMATURELY.  133 

are  classed  as  total  abstainers ,  temperate ,  and  intemperate ,  the 
lesults  are  highly  favorable  to  the  total  abstaining  soldiers. 
Of  450  total  abstaining  soldiers  the  rate  per  cent,  of  admission 
into  hospital  for  treatment  of  various  diseases  was  130  888. 
ihe  rate  per  cent,  of  deaths  was  1*111.  Of  4,318  temperate 
soldiers  the  rate  per  cent,  of  admission  into  hospital  for  treat¬ 
ment  -of  various  diseases  was  141* 503.  The  rate  per  cent,  of 
deaths  was  2*315?  Of  942  intemperate  soldiers,  the  rate  per 
cent,  of  admission  into  hospital  for  treatment  of  various  diseases 
was  214  861 ;  the  rate  per  cent,  of  deaths  was  4*458.  “  From 

these  it  will  be  seen,”  says  Dr.  Carpenter,  “that  whilst  the 
number  of  deaths  among  450  total  abstainers ,  during  the  year 
1840  was  5,  or  11*1  per  1,000,  the  number  among  4,318  tem¬ 
perate  men  was  100,  or  23*1  per  1,000,  being  rather  more  than 
double  the  previous  proportion.  As  to  the  intemperate ,  the 
increase  is  frightful,  for  among  942.  such  men,  the  number  of 

deaths  was  not  less  than  42,  or  in  the  quadruple  ratio  of  44*5 
per  1,000.” 

It  is  objected  that  many  moderate  drinkers  attain  to  an 
advanced  age.  True!  but  how  many  are  cut  off  in  early  life? 
Even  in  reference  to  those  who  survive  to  advanced  age,  are 
we  to  attribute  this  to  the  moderate  use  of  intoxicating  liquor, 

or  to  great  strength  and  vigor  of  constitution?  Surely  the 
latter. 

But  can  it  be  proved  that  those  moderate  drinkers  who  attain 
to  old  age  escape  scatheless?  Is  it  credible  that  they  have  no 
penalty  to  pay  for  their  violation  of  physiological  law?  Expe¬ 
rience  proves  that  they  do  not  escape.  Take,  for  example,  the 
case  of  the  late  Dr.  Ilolyoake,  of  Salem,  U.  S.,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  100  years.  lie  lived  what  is  called  a  very  regular  life, 
but  v\  as  in  the  habit  of  using  intoxicating  drinks  in  small  quan¬ 
tities.  He  had  a  preparation  which  consisted  of  one  tablespoon¬ 
ful  of  Jamaica  rum,  and  one  of  cider,  diluted  with  water,  which 
he  took  after  dinner,  while  smoking  his  pipe.  When  examined 

after  death  by  Dr. - ,  his  intimate  friend  and  biographer,  it 

was  discovered  that  he  did  not  die  of  old  age.  The  heart  and 
organs,  apt  to  become  diseased  in  aged  persons,  and  to  become 
ossified,  (converted  into  bone,)  were  as  soft  as  a  child’s,  and  for 
aught  that  appeared,  might  have  gone  on  acting  for  another 
bundled  yeais.  Ihe  good  doctor  died  of  the  disease  most  com- 

monly  produced  by  ardent  spirits  and  tobacco,  viz :  an  internal 
12 


134  THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL. 

cancer  of  the  stomach. — See  Dr.  Nott’s  Lectures  on  Bible  Tem¬ 
perance. 

The  habitual  moderate  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  a  practice 
fraught  with  unmitigated  evil. 

Dr.  Lankester,  a  gentleman  who  has  very  zealously  opposed 
teetotalism,  and  very  laboriously  written  in  favor  of  model  ate 
dr  nkirig,  confesses  that  moderate  drinking,  after  all,  -is  an 
injurious  and  dangerous  practice.  “  As  far  as  its  physiological 
action  is  concerned,  I  do  not  know  that  we  can  say  anything 
good  of  alcohol  at  all ;  it  may  seriously  interfere  with  the  func¬ 
tions  of  absorption,  and  injure  the  coats  of  the  stomach,  and, 
when  taken  injudiciously,  a  very  long  way  short  of  producing 
any  effect  on  the  nervous  system ,  it  may  yet  prevent  the  proper 
nutrition  of  the  system,  and  insidiously  lay  the  foundation  of 
incurable  .disease.” 

“But,”  says  the  Doctor,  “what  is  excess?  Unfortunately  tec  have  no 
ride  which  we  can  lay  down  by  which  the  danger  ot  excess  may  be 
avoided.  The  power  of  resisting  the  effects  of  this  agent  varies  with  age, 
sex.  climate,  natural  constitution,  occupation.  The  young  and  the  aged 
suffer  more  from  excess  than  the  adult  and  those  of  middle  age.  W  omen 
are  less  able  to  bear  its  action  than  men.  More  alcohol  can  be  consumed 
with  impunity  in  cold  than  in  hot  countries.  Those  who  are  engaged  in 
sedentary  pursuits  need  be  more  cautious  in  its  use  than  those  who  live 
much  in  the  open  air.  The  move  dilute  alcohol  is  taken,  the  less  likely  is 
it  to  ‘produce  injurious  effects.  .  .  .  But  I  would  not  undertake  to  say 

what  is  the  precise  quantity  of  alcohol  which  a  man  may  take,  as  a  general 
rule  without  doing  himself  any  harm.  (!)  There  is  one  physiological  law, 
however,  which,  if  recollected,  might  in  some  measure  control  the  evils 
that  arise  from  taking  alcohol,  and  it  is  this:  that  substances  which  have 
a  tendency  to  act  injuriously  on  the  system  may  be  taken  with  impunity, 
providing  time  is  given  for  the  special  effects  of  one  dose  to  be  eradicated 
before  the  next  dose  is  taken.  Now,  I  am  not  going  to  commit  myself  to 
an  opinion  as  to  how  many  hours  it  may  take  for  the  system  to  get 
entirely  rid  of  the  effect  ot  half  a  pint  ot  table-beer,  or  a  pint  ot  w  ine; 
but  I  will  express  my  conviction  that  those  suffer  least  from  the  effects  of 
alcohol  who  lake  it  but  once  in  the  twenty-four  hours;  wdiilst  those  w'ho  are 
imbibing  all  day  long,  keep  up  in  their  system  an  action  which  is  likely 
to  be  permanently  injurious.  The  occasional  drunk  appear  to  sutler 
less  than  the  perpetual  toper  who  never  betrays  the  extent  of  his  liba¬ 
tions.” — Diet,  pp.  206-7. 

Dr.  Lankester  also  advises  us  to  “avoid  taking  wine,  spirits, 
and  beer”  on  an  empty  stomach.*  lie  also  recommends  alcohol 
*  Food,  one  would  think,  is  specially  suited  to  an  empty  stomach. 


MODERATE  DRINKING  A  MISNOMER. 


135 


to  be  taken  u  very  diluted ,  as  in  the  form  of  table-beer.”  In  fact, 
he  lays  down  so  many  cautions,  with  which  no  moderate  drinker 
will  ever  think  of  complying,  as  very  clearly  Shows  that  alcohol 
is  a  dangerous  and  unmanageable  agent. 

It  seems  then,  that  it  is  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  define  moderate  drinking,  either  as  it  regards  the  quantity,  the 
quality,  or  the  frequency  of  use.  All  he  informs  us  of,  ascertain, 
is  that  the  weaker  liquors  are  less  injurious  than  the  stronger! 
That  a  small  quantity  wont  hurt  people  so  much  as  a  larger 
quantity,  and  that  if  we  take  it  but  once  a  day  we  shall  not 
sustain  so  much  injury  as  by  repeating  the  dose  more  frequently. 
It  liaidly  needs  an  F.  II.  S.  to  teach  us  these  things. 

One  tiling  is  plain.  The  defenders  of  moderate  drinking  never 
attempt  to  show  how  much  liquor  a  healthy  man  may  take  with 
ben ejit.  They  merely  attempt  to  show  us  how  much  a  man  may 
take  without  danger  or  serious  inconvenience,  and  in  this  they 
miserably  fail.  Their  whole  position  is  based  upon  ifs  and  huts. 
Dr.  Lankester  asks,  “ May  it  not  be  necessary,  in  order  to  remove 
a  tendency  to  disease,  to  take  doses  of  alcohol  varying  from  half 
an  ounce  to  two  ounces  every  twenty  four  hours?”*  We  call 
upon  him  to  show  that  it  really  is  necessary. 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter,  then,  is  that  moderate 
drinking  is  a  misnomer,  and  that  those  persons  only  are  safe  and 
wise,  who  abstain  from  alcoholic  liquors. 

the  experiments  ol  Professor  Parkes  show  that  one  ounce  increases  the 
tcor*  of  the  heart  an  hour  per  day;  and  that  perceptible  injury  to  a  strong 
man  follows  lp£oz.,  and  imperceptible  injury  must  precede  the  perceptible.— 
See  Dr.  Lee’s  Text  hook  of  Temperance. 


136 


BACCHUS  DETHRONED. 


CHAPTER  IV  . 

THE  LAW  OF  SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND  IN  ITS  APPLICATION  TO  THE 

LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 

Prop.  IV. — 11  That  social ,  moderate  drinking,  creates  the 

unnatural  demand  for  the  poison,  ichich  is  the  principal  cause 

of  the  wide-spread  scourge  of  intemperance.''' 

* 

Prop.  V. — 11  That  it  is  the  supply  of  alcoholic  liquors,  fur¬ 
nished  by  the  manufacturers  and  vendors  of  the  poison,  that 
creates  [or  fosters]  the  unnatural  demand;  not  the  demand  the 
supply .” 

These  propositions  embody  two  aspects  of  the  same  thought, 
and  involve  the  following  propositions: 

1.  — That  the  demand  for  intoxicating  liquor  arises  from  no 
natural  appetite  implanted  in  the  human  constitution. 

2.  — That  the  appetite  for  intoxicating  liquor  is  produced  by 
the  use  of  these  beverages. 

3.  — That  the  supply  of  the  article  is  therefore  antecedent  to, 
and  the  direct  cause  of,  that  unnatural  demand,  and  not  the 
demand  the  supply. 

For  the  preservation  of  the  human  body,  and  the  propagation 
of  our  kind,  the  Creator  has  wisely  implanted  in  our  constitu¬ 
tions  certain  appetites,  over  which  we  have  but  slight  or  no 
control.  Such  are  thirst,  hunger,  and  the  appetite  of  the  sexes; 
the  proper  gratification  of  which  brings  pleasure,  and  is  necessary 
to  health  and  life.  The  Creator  has  also  graciously  provided 
objects  to  satisfy  these  appetites,  lie  has  provided  water  to 
meet  our  thirst,  and  in  a  natural  state  the  body  craves  for  no 
other.  We  may  flavor  it  with  the  aromas  of  tea  and  colfce,  and 
raise  its  temperature  to  blood-heat,  merely  to  please  the  palate 
or  the  fancy  ;  but  water,  pure  and  uncontaminated,  is  the  only 
beverage  absolutely  demanded  by  the  wants  of  the  body. 

God  has  also  provided  food  to  satisfy  our  hunger.  The  only 
condition  requiring  to  be  fulfilled  here,  is  that  this  food  shall 
contain  those  normal  elements  that  enter  into  the  composition  of 


NATURAL  CRAVINGS. 


137 

the  human  blood  and  structures.  To  this  end  God  has  wisely 
provided  the  world  with  a  rich  variety  of  foods,  so  that  what  one 
thing  may  be  wanting  in,  another  may  supply.  If  0ur  food  be 
deficient  in  any  necessary  constituents,  there  exists  in  the  body 
a  craving  for  them,  strong  and  imperious,  and  should  this 
not  be  met,  disease  or  death  will  follow.  This  is  to  be  witnessed 
in  sailors  who  suffer  from  scurvy,  the  result  of  being  restricted 
to  provisions  deficient  in  the  salt  of  potash.  So,  many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  our  large  towns  who  live  almost  exclusively  upon 
baker’s  bread,  suffer  much  from  scrofula,  induced  by  poverty  of 
blood;  so  also  children  suffer  from  rachitis,  or  softening  of  the 
bones,  owing  to  a  deficiency  of  phosphate  of  lime.  If  The  food 
supplied  to  fowls  be  short  of  lime,  they  drop  soft  eggs,  and  will 
greedily  peck  at  any  mortar  they  can  get  at.  So  if”  food  be  de¬ 
ficient  in  salt,  all  animals  will  crave  after  it.  Through  the 
refinements  of  modern  cookery,  a  great  many  of  these  saline  and 
soluble  ingredients  are  dissolved  out  of  our  food  and  poured 
away;  and  to  make  up  for  this  deficiency,  we  require  either  to 
increase  the  variety  of  our  food,  or  to  introduce  them  artificially. 

f,  from  any  cause  apart  from  the  use  of  narcotics,  or  excess  in 
food,  the  stomach  loses  its  tone,  and  the  body  its  nervous  energy, 
then  to  restore  the  one,  nature  has  provided  the  bitter  principle* 
in  some  instances  contained  in  the  very  food  we  eat;  and  to 
renew  the  other,  she  has  provided  the  acro-aromatics,  causing 
them  to  grow  and  luxuriate  in  those  very  climes  where  they  are 
most  likely  to  be  needed. 

In  proportion  as  the  nutritive  elements  of  plants  and  -roots 
diminish  through  poverty  of  soil,  unpropitiousness  of  climate,  or 
neglect  of  culture,  the  bitter  principle  increases,  and  manifests 
its  presence.  .  ilie  grasses  are  more  succulent,  nutritious,  and 
sweet  upon  rich  soils,  and  less  so,  but  more  bitter  upon  poor 
soils.  This  bitter  principle. seems  to  be  given  to  enable  the 
stomach  to  dispose  of  the  larger  quantity,  which  the  body  will 
require  to  make  up  for  the  deficiency  of  nutriment. 

Ileie,  again,  the  craving  under  certain  circumstances  for  acro- 
aromatics,  or  bitters,  not  being  entirely  abnormal,  but  arising 
from  certain  causes  over  which  we  have  little  or  no  control” 
nature  has  a  rich  provision  to  meet  and  satisfy  it,  and  many  of 
those  agents,  so  called  “medicinal,”  are  also  rich  in  such  ele¬ 
ments  as  iron,  potash,  etc.* 

o  *  i  acquainted  with  a  lady,  a  teetotaler,  Mrs.  Mcl _  of  A _  who 

some  time  ago  had  a  very  strong  craving  for  bitter  beer,  but  lor  no  other 


138 


THE  LAW  OF  SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND. 


In  man’s  normal  condition,  however,  \vc  find  no  craving  no 
desire,  no  appetite  for  alcoholics,  but  on  the  contrary,  a  decided 
aversion  to  them.  In  harmony  with  this,  God  has  not  implanted 
alcohol  in  anything  lie  hath  made.  We  may  ransack  nature 
through  all  her  wide  domains,  but  we  lind  it  not  in  anything 
endowed  with  organism  and  life-,  neither  do  we  meet  with  it  as 
the  production  of  any  of  those  vital  processes  that  surround  us 
on  every  hand.  By  a  kind  of  vital,  most  elaborate  and  subtle 
chemistry,  with  its  endless  changes,  affinities,  transformations 
and  combinations,  tve  see  the  modest  daisy  springing  up  be¬ 
neath  our  feet,  and  the  tall  tree  waving  on  high  its  branches  in 
all  the  pomp  of  blossom  and  of  foliage,  and  by  the  same  pro¬ 
cesses,  though  perhaps  still  more  Complicated,  we  see  the  tiny 
insect  springing  into  life,  and  man  himsell  erect  and  beautiful, 
lilting  his  lace  to  the  skies*,  but  nowhere  through  the  operation 
of  those  vital  changes,  do  we  find  alcoholic  liquor  or  juice.  We 
may  torture  nature  in  the  crucible,  we  may  apply  our  most 
delicate  chemical  tests,  but  we  find  it  not  in  any  organized  pro¬ 
duction.  Not  until  the  life  of  the  edible  plants  and  fruits  be¬ 
comes  extinct,  and  organisms  begin  to  break  up,  and  decompo¬ 
sition  sets  in,  is  alcohol  ever  found.  It  is  the  offspring  of  death, 
the  child  of  corruption,  destined  only  to  an  evanescent  existence, 
had  not  Art  interfered  and  arrested  its  further  progress,  snatch¬ 
ing  it  from  its  seething  corruption  to  carry  on  the  work  of 
human  slaughter. 

No  doubt!  the  babe — the  offspringof  a  drunken  mother,  whose 
blood  was  never  pure,  being  led  in  the  womb  from  a  tainted 
source,  and  whose  very  food,  its  mother’s  milk,  is  thoroughly 
saturated  with  spirit,— may  grow  up  with  a  craving,  strong  and 
almost  resistless,  lor  intoxicating  liquor,  but  the  appetite  exists 
not  there  by  God’s  own  implantation,  but  from  those  vile  and 
abnormal  conditions  under  which  that  child  has  been  brought 
in  to  the  world  and  reared. 

It  ought  to  be  remembered  that  no  woman  with  a  child  at  the 
breast,  can  drink  liquors  containing  spirit  without  a  definite  pro¬ 
kind  of  alcoholic  beverage.  The  bitter  beer  appeared  for  a  time  to  satisfy 
this  craving,  but  did  not  remove  it.  I  urged  her  to  lav  the  beer  aside,  and  to 
take,  instead,  compound  infusion  of  gentian,  with  a  little  g  nger.  One  fluid 
ounce  three  times  a  day,  alternated  with  infusion  ot  columbo  and  ginger. 
This  not  only  satisfied  her  craving,  tint  eventual  y  removed  it,  and  very  greatly 
improved  her  health.  I  purposely  refrained  from  prescribing  the  tinctures  of 
ciiuunbo  and  gentian, and  confined  the  patient  to  the  simple  aqueous  infu¬ 
sions;  for  otherwise  it  might  have  been  urged,  that  the  hitter  tinctures 
stood  related  to  the  body  exactly  as  bitter  beer  did,  both  being  composed 
of  bitters  and  alcohol. 


THE  DEMAND  FOR  NARCOTICS. 


139 


portion  of  the  same  finding  its  way  to  the  mammary  glands,  and 
mix.ng  With  the  milk.  Alcohol  has  been  distilled  from  the  milk 
of  mothers  who  drink  alcoholic  liquors.  Of  course  the  babe 
partaking  of  this  impure  supply  becomes  diseased.  We  have 
seen  many  infants,  who  imbibed  their  nourishment  from  the 
breasts  of  drunken  mothers,  completely  intoxicated.  In  fact, 
like  then  parents,  they  are  seldom  sober.  Thus  early  in  life,  and 
ere  the  dawn  of  reason,  do  they  become  involuntary  drunkards, 
and  should  their  young  lives  be  spared,  they  grow  up  vicious  and 

depraved,  or  become  oinomaniacs,  and  descend  to  a  drunkard’s 
grave.  . 

That  there  exists,  on  a  very  large  scale,  a  demand  for  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquors  and  other  narcotics,  is  true.  From  ages  imme¬ 
morial  has  this  strange  infatuation  existed,  this  strong  proclivity 
to  indulgence  in  narcotics,  either  in  the  form  of  opium,  tobacco 
or  spirit.  This  is  peculiar  to  no  particular  clime,  to  no  one  race 
of  men.  There  is,  however,  this  feature  about  it;  the  strange 
acility  with  which  barbarous  tribes,  previously  uncontaminated, 
can  acquire  a  liking  for  these  narcotics,  especially  alcoholic  liquor. 

Lo\e  lor  the  intoxicating  wines  of  the  sunny  south  brought 
the  Goths  and  Vandals  in  overwhelming  numbers  before  the 
g  tes  of  Koine,  and  led  them  to  devastate  the  fair  plains  of  Italy. 
Love  for  fire-water  by  the  American  Indians  has  destroyed  even 
their  natural  affection,  and  decimated  or  even  annihilated  whole 
tribes  of  them.  The  inhabitants  of  some  of  those  lovely  and 
luxuriant  islands  in  the  far  Pacific  have  been  so  corrupted  by  the 
same  agent,  till  once  numerous  and  powerful  tribes  have  degene¬ 
rated  to  a  few  diseased  aud  wretched  creatures. 

Let  us  now  seek  to  trace  this  demand  to  its  source.  How  the 
different  narcotics  came  to  be  used  at  all,  and  under  what 
circumstances  they  were  first  discovered,  we  can  only  conjecture. 
Most  likely  the  intoxicating  wines  were  first  discovered  by  acci¬ 
dent.  L lie  milk  of  the  cocoanut,  the  juice  of  the  grape,  left 
exposed  to  fermentation,  and  drank  unwittingly  on  the  part  of 
those  who  drank  them,  of  the  changes  induced,  would  impart  a 
feeling  of  jollity  and  exhilaration.  By  accident  a  liquor  is  dis¬ 
covered,  possessing  the  marvellous  and  fascinatinn*  power  of 
exciting  the  nervous  system,  and  filling  the  mind  with  pleas'n- 
images,  taking  away  fear  and  banishing  care!  The  original 
drinkers  of  these  liquors,  being  perfectly  ignorant  of  their  "phy¬ 
siological  action,  would  naturally  recommend  them  to  others  as 


140 


THE  LAW  OF  SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND. 


panaceas  for  the  sorrows  of  life  ;  possessing  power  to  relieve  the 
aching  hearts,  and  “  banish  dull  care.”  The  discovery  of  the 
supply  leads  to  the  demand  ;  and  with  the  consumption  of  these 
liquors  this  demand  increases;  for  speedily  there  supervenes 
upon  the  desire  to  promote  jollity  and  good  fellowship,  a  craving , 
distinct  and  definite,  for  the  drink  itself.  This  they  seek  to 
gratify,  and  thus  supply  and  demand  act  and  react  upon  each 
other.  The  more  liquor  is  manufactured  the  greater  the  con¬ 
sumption,  and  the  larger  the  quantity  consumed  the  more  the 
people  desire  and  crave  after  it.  As  the  appetite  increases,  the 
mild  intoxicants  fail  fully  to  satisfy  the  unnatural  demand,  un¬ 
less  consumed  in  very  large  quantities,  and  so  liquors  of  greater 
intoxicating  power  must  he  resorted  to.  To  meet  this  demand 
previous  to  the  discovery  of  distilled  liquors,  wines  were  more 
thoroughly  fermented,  thereby  increasing  their  alcoholic  power, 
or  drugs  were  added  of  a  bitter  and  narcotic  character,  such  as 
hellebore,  opium,  absinthe,  etc.  At  last  the  discovery  is  made, 
that  intoxicating  liquors,  though  potent  for  a  time  to  assuage 
the  heart's  anguish  and  to  excite  merriment  and  glee,  are  never¬ 
theless  instruments  of  demoralization  and  disease  ;  that  they  are, 
in  fact,  crime-producing  and  death-dealing  agents.  But  long 
ere  this  they  have  become  articles  of  commerce.  Monetary  in¬ 
terests  are  involved,  and  social  customs  partaking  of  the  forms 
of  hospitality  arc.  attached  to  them,  which  are  also  personified  in 
a  god,  whose  praises  and  exploits  are  chanted  in  hymns,  and 
upon  whose  altars  oblations  of  wine  are  poured  forth  in  worship  ! 
These  things  render  the  evil  most  difficult  to  deal  with.  Now 
and  again,  however,  wise  legislators  interfere,  and  seek  to  stay 
the  wide-spread  ravages  of  drink.  In  China,  1100  b.  c.,  the 
manufacture  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  prohibited,  and  in  succeed¬ 
ing  reigns  even  the  vines  are  uprooted  and  destroyed. 

Plato,  in  his  laws,  represents  a  Lacedemonian  as  saying: — 
“ That  whereby  men  chiefly  fall  into  the  greatest  luxuries,  inso¬ 
lence,  and  all  sorts  of  moral  madness,  our  laws  have  effectually 
rooted  out  of  our  country.  You  shall  neither  in  villages  nor 
towns  of  the  Spartan  state,'  see  any  such  things  as  drinking 
clubs,  or  their  usual  consequences.”  lie  also  approves  “the 
Carthaginian  law,  that  no  sort  of  wine  be  drunk  in  the  camp, 
nor  anything  save  water;  and  that  every  judge  and  magistrate 
abstain  from  wine  during  the  year  of  his  majesty.” 

Learned  philosophers  practise  abstinence  themselves  and  enjoin 


ancient  testimonials.  141 

the  same  upon  their  disciples.  Pythagoras  was  a  water-drinker, 
and  the  Pythagoreans  were  renowned  lor  the  simplicity  of  their 
iives  and  their  abstinence  from  intoxicants.  Epicurus,  the 
founder  ol  the  Epicurean  philosophy,  was  a  teetotaler,  and  urged 
ie  necessity  of  a  frugal  and  virtuous  life  in  order  to  attain  life’s 
great  end,  enjoyment.  He  says Wilt  thou  support  life? 
Have  bread  and  water.  For  these  twenty  years  less  than  a  penny 
per  day  has  kept  me.”  Over  his  gate  he  wrote  the  following  in¬ 
scription  Passenger  !  Here  thou  wilt  find  good  entertain¬ 
ment;  it  is  here  that  pleasure  is  esteemed  the  sovereign  good. 
-Lhe  master  will  receive  thee  courteously;  but  take  note— thou 
must  expect  only  a  piece  of  cake,  and  thy  fill  of  water.  Here 

hunger  is  not  provoked,  but  satisfied;  thirst  is  not  excited,  but 
quenched.” 

Great  religious  reformers  make  abstinence  from  intoxicating 

drmk  a  very  prominent  feature  in  their  teachings.  In  India” 

Gotama  Buddha,  the  founder  of  Buddhism,  who  flourished  600 

b.  c.,  taught :  Obey  the  law  and  walk  steadily  in  the  path  of 

punty,  and  drink  not  liquors  that  intoxicate,  or  disturb  the 
reason.”* 

.  *Io.hf.mm1ed  (ausht-  “Of  the  fruit  of  the  grape  ye  obtain  an 
inebriating  liquor,  and  also  good  nourishment.”  The  former  lie 
interdicts,  the  latter  he  allows. 

Measures  of  a  most  repressive  character  were  also  enacted  in 
some  countries  to  keep  the  people  sober,  llomulus,  the  founder 
ol  Koine  enacted  a  law  that  no  woman  should  drink  fermented 
wine  under  penalty  of  death,  awarded  to  adultery,  since  he 
regarded  the  drinking  of  wine  as  the  beginning  of  adultery. 

In  Egypt  intoxicating  wine  was  forbidden  both  to  kin-  and 
priest.  1  rom  the  accession  of  Menes  to  the  reign  of  Psametichus 
UU  n.  c.,  a  period  embracing  twenty-five  dynasties,  teetotalism 
was  taught  and  practised  by  them.  The  E-yptian  priests 
abstained  even  as  far  clown  as  the  time  of  Nero.  Says  Clueremon 
the  keeper  of  the  sacred  books  in  the  Temple  of  Serapis  With 
respect  to  wine  some  of  them  did  not  drink  it  at  all,  and  others 
drank  very  little  of  it,  on  account  of  its  being  injurious  to  the 

nerves,  oppressive  to  the  head,  an  impediment  to  invention,  and 
an  incentive  to  lust.”  ’ 

Though  among  some  nations  that  form  of  intemperance  flow- 
rarfotataTwoitii, ri. uiSf63  "6  “re  mJebtea  t0  Cf-  Lees'  Ancient 


142 


TIIE  LAW  OF  SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND. 


ing  from  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  by  these  means  received 
a  most  effectual  check,  as  in  China  and  Arabia,  yet  in  others 
the  ravages  of  intemperance  continued  to  spread,  defying  alike 
penal  enactments,  philosophic  homilies,  and  prophetic  denun¬ 
ciations,  till  nations  once  great  and  powerful  were  demoralized 
and  destroyed. 

About  the  10th  century  the  art  of  distillation,  supposed  to 
have  been  previously  discovered  by  the  Chinese,  was  rediscovered 
by  the  Arabians.  They  sought  in  the  alembic  for  the  philoso¬ 
pher’s  stone,  whose  magic  touch  should  transmute  the  baser 
metals  into  gold,  and  for  the  vital  elixir  whose  potent  influ¬ 
ence  should  repair  the  ravages  of  time,  remove  the  effects  of 
disease,  and  thus  confer  upon  frail  humanity  the  joys  of  perennial 
health,  and  the  gift  of  endless  life.  Alas  1  they  discovered  only 
the  elixir  of  death — the  al- ghoul,  the  spirit  of  destruction,  by 
whose  potency  the  joys  of  life  should  fade,  the  heart  be  deprived 
of  moral  worth,  the  human  frame  be  stricken  with  a  hundred 
diseases,  and  tilled  with  a  thousand  torments.  Pale  and  trem¬ 


bling  stood  the  Arabian  chemist  before  the  spirit  he  had  evoked — • 
evoked  from  the  secrecy  of  the  laboratory,  to  return  not  again, 
but  to  march  forth,  a  grim  and  merciless  fiend,  upon  its  work  of 
ruin. 

At  first,  and  for  some  centuries,  the  most  extravagant  eulo- 
giuins  were  lavished  upon  the  newly  discovered  ether.  Diseases 


were  to  vanish  at  its  touch,  sorrow  was  to  melt  into  joy  at  its 
appro  ach,  and  a  qua  vitce  was  to  prove  a  blessing  to  the  world. 

The  extravagant  praises  lavished  upon  ardent  spirits  by 
physicians  in  the  13th  century,  as  Arnoldus  de  Villa,  and  Ray¬ 
mond  Lully  his  disciple,  and  afterwards  by  Theoricus,  were 
eagerly  believed  in  by  the  people,  who  regarded  the  products  of 
the  still,  not  only  as  possessing  great  potency  to  cure  disease,  hut 
to  shield  and  preserve  the  body  from  its  attacks.  Those  there¬ 
fore  who  feared  the  pestilence,  or  the  burning  rage  of  fever,  or 
the  lesser  ills  of  life,  sought  in  the  newr  liquor  a  safeguard  and 
a  refuge.  Thus  around  these  baneful  drinks  social  customs 
also  gathered  and  monetary  interests  accumulated.  The  manu¬ 
facture  of  them  rapidly  extended,  and  with  this  arose  an 
increased  consumption,  a  rapid  increase  in  the  demand,  and  a 
rapid  development  of  the  sources  of  supply  ;  this  again  accele¬ 
rated  consumption,  and  so  these  conditions  continued  to  act  and 
react  upon  each  other,  supply  and  demand,  demand  and  supply, 


SOCIAL  CUSTOMS. 


143 


till  the  nations  of  Europe  were  filled  with  drunkenness,  misery 
and  cr»me.  1 

To  check  the  evil  and  to  improve  the  habits  of  the  people 
penal  laws  are  enacted  against  tippling  and  t.ppling-l.ouses  :  the 
price  ol  liquor  is  enhanced  by  duties  levied  upon  them,  and  none 
are  penmtted  to  sell  them  without  a  license.  Yet  all  these 
restrictions  and  fiscal  measures  fail  to  remove  the  phonic  i  The 
duties  and  license  lees,  originally  levied  to  enhance  the  price  of 
dunk,  and  to  check  the  intemperate  habits  of  the  people 
become  a  source  of  considerable  revenue,  which  proves  an 
inducement  to  regard  with  favor  the  development  of  the  menu- 
acture  ol  intoxicating  liquors,  and  their  increased  consuuip- 

d'ffi’, ,  r?e ' ""S  •  eva  “0re  pr0tean  in  f«rui,  and  more 

f  f  '  0  deal.  secmS that  now,  appetite,  custom,  monetary 

attacks  ’  *  nUt'0n  “  1'eVe,me’  a11  consPire  K>  guard  it  from  hostile 

alhe  H  S0C,al  drinla"s  usa«es  have  a  great  deal  to  do  in  keepin.r 
alne  Ins  unnatural  demand  is  evident;  tor  these  enter  into  every 

department  of  ltle,  and  are  associated  with  the  most  solemn  the 
most  sacred,  and  the  most  joyous  epochs  of  our  existence.  They 
con Iront  us  at  our  birth,  our  baptism,  our  ntarriatre,  and  our 
death.  It  we  meet  a  inend,  they  are  there;  if  we  transact 
business,  they  are  there.  When  hound  an  apprentice  they  rise 
he  ote  us,  and  when  that  apprenticeship  is  completed,  they  are  also 
ioiced  upon  us.  Whatever  our  position  in  lile,  or  the  nature  of 
our  employment,  we  cannot  fail  to  he  brought  face  to  face  with 

cult  tod? l“UM  aad  Pernicious  customs-yet  all  the  more  diffi¬ 
cult  todeal  with  that  they  are  associated  with  those  kindly  senti- 

ments  of, hospitality  which  we  should  not  like  to  see  weakened 
or  it  it  he  the  desire  of  the  kind  host  to  express  his  friendship’ 
and  his  anxiety  to  entertain  and  please,  it  is  no  less  the  desire 
of  the  guest  to  show  that  that  kindliness  is.appreciated.  When 
the  cup  is  the  symbol  of  these,  how  difficult  to  refuse  ! 

WrTl?  ‘r0  S'1!‘I’licit>r  of  the  Patriarchal  age,  the  sentiment  of 
hospitality  luund  a  more  safe  and  natural  expression  The  kid 

was  prepared  or  the  failed  calf  killed,  water  was  brought 
to  the  weary  traveller  that  he  might  wash  his  feet,  that  thus 
invigorated  with  substantial  faro  and  the  refreshing  ablution  ho 
would  be  abie  to  resume  bis  journey.  In  many  of  the  thinly 

fhehm  tfN  ,!  0Uf  0 land-tl,e  m°untains  of  Cumberland* 
the  lulls  ol  Northumberland,  the  dales  of  Yorkshire  and  West- 


144 


THE  LAW  OF  SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND. 


moreland,  the  hospitable  sentiments  of  the  kind  farmer,  and  of 
the  humble  but  not  less  friendly  cottager,  find  expression  in  a 
similar  manner.  The  kettle  simmers  upon  the  hob;  the  cup 
that  cheers  but  not  inebriates  is  prepared,  and  you  are  invited  to 
eat  and  drink,  that,  thus  refreshed,  you  may  pursue  your  way. 

We  must  seek  to  uproot  these  social  drinking  usages,  not  by 
restraining  the  laudable  sentiments  of  which  they  are  the  expres¬ 
sion,  but  by  inculcating  the  duty  of  expressing  them  in  a  way 
more  innocent,  less  dangerous,  and  more  compatible  with  the 
safety  and  well-being  of  our  guests. 

In  this  work,  we  need  the  special  aid  of  Woman. 

We  would  appeal  to  her  in  the  language  of  the  eloquent  Dr. 
Nott.  “  It  is  not  yours  to  wield  .the  club  of  Hercules,  or  bend 
Achilles*  bow.  But,  though  it  is  not,  still  vou  have  a  heaven- 
appointed  armor,  as  well  as  a  heaven-approved  theatre  of  action. 
The  look  of  tenderness,  the  eye  of  compassion,  the  lips  of  en¬ 
treaty  are  yours ;  and  yours  too  are  the  decisions  of  taste,  yours 
the  omnipotence  of  fashion.  You  can  therefore, — I  speak  of 
those  who  have  been  the  favorites  of  fortune,  and  who  occupy 
the  high  places  of  society, — you  can  change  the  terms  of  social 
intercourse  and  alter  the  current  opinions  of  the  community. 
You  can  remove,  at  once  and  forever,  temptation  from  the 
saloon,  the  drawing-room,  and  the  dining-table.  This  is  your 
empire,  the  empire  over  which  God  and  the  usages  of  mankind 
have  given  you  dominion.  Here,  within  these  limits,  and  with¬ 
out  transgressing  that  modesty  which  is  heaven’s  own  gift  and 
woman’s  brightest  ornament,  you  may  exert  a  benign,  kindly, 
mighty  influence.  Here,  you  have  but  to  speak  the  word,  and 
one  chief  source  of  the  mother’s,  the  wife’s,  and  the  widow’s 
sorrows  will,  throughout  the  circle  in  which  you  move,  be  dried 
up  for  ever.  Nor  throughout  that  circle  only.  The  families 
around  you,  and  beneath  you,  will  feel  the  influence  of  your 
example  descending  on  them  in  blessings  like  the  dews  of 
heaven  that  descend  on  the  mountains  of  Zion  ;  and  drunken¬ 
ness,  loathsome  drunkenness,  driven  by  the  moral  power  of 
your  decision  from  all  the  abodes  of  reputable  society,  will  be 
compelled  to  exist,  if  it  exist  at  all,  only  among  those  vulgar  and 
ragged  wretches,  who,  shunning  the  society  of  women,  herd 
together  in  the  bar-room  and  the  groggery.” 

The  Second  cause  of  the  unnatural  demand  for  intoxicating 
liquor  is,  without  doubt,  the .  liquor  traffic,  including  alike  the 


145 


applied  to  the  drinking  system. 

manufacture  and  sale.  This  traffic,  legalized  and  protected,  pos¬ 
sessing  many  immunities  and  privileges,  is  in  reality  the  founda¬ 
tion  and  principal  support  ot  the  drinking  usages,  and  through 
them  of  the  unnatural  demand  for  strong  drink. 

The  law  of  supply  and  demand,  as  applied  to  the  necessaries 
of  life,  may  be  stated  thus— demand  leads  to  supply.— If  the 
supply  comes  short  of  the  demand,  the  population  of  “a  country 
must  decrease,  till  they  balance  each  other.  If  the  supply  merely 
meets  the  demand,  and  no  more,  the  population  of  that  country 
will  be  kept  in  check.  If,  however,  the  supply  be  greater  than 
the  demand,  then  this  affords  scope  for  the  population  of'  a 
country  to  increase  in  proportion.  All  poor  countries  are  thinly 
peopled  ;  whilst  rich  and  productive  countries,  whose  resources 
are  being  rapidly  developed,  increase  in  population.  We  may 
point  to  Lapland  in  evidence  of  the  former,  and  to  England  and 
the  United  States  in  evidence  of  the  latter.  Should  a  rapidly 
increasing  population  threaten  to  overlap  the  development  of  the 
sources  of  supply,  then  from  that  period  does  the  ratio  of  increase 
diminish.  We  seem  to  have  an  example  of  this  in  our  own 
country.  In  the  ten  years,  1811-1821,  the  increase  was  18  per 
cent.,  or  1-8  per  cent,  per  annum  ;  in  the  ten  years,  1851-1861,  it 
was  only  12  per  cent.,  or  P141  per  cent,  per  annum. 

As  applied  to  the  luxuries  of  life,  the  law  of  supply  and 
demand  may  be  thus  stated:  1.— The  supply  leads  to  the 
demand  ;  2.— The  nature  of  the  supply  leads  to  a  rapid  increase 
in  the  demand  ;  3.  This  again  leads  to  a  still  further  develop¬ 
ment  in  the  sources  of  supply ;  and  thus  supply  and  demand  act 
and  react  upon  each  other. 

,  This  is  especially  the  case  when  applied  to  intoxicating  liquor. 
The  more  drink  you  supply  the  greater  will  be  the  demand,  and 
this  again  must  lead  to  a  rapid  development  in  the  sources  of 
supply.  Ibis  process  has  been  going  on  for  many  years,  and  the 
unnatural  demand  has  increased  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
increase  of  population. 

According  to  Mr.  Porter,  the  sum  spent  in  1849,  on  beer 
spirits,  and  tobacco,  was  £57,000,000,  at  that  time  the  popula¬ 
tion  of  the  United  Kingdom  was  about  28,000,000. 

In  1868  the  sum  expended  was  £111,886,000;  the  population 
bemg  about  30,000,000.  Thus  since  1847,  the  population  had 
increased  t  -142  per  cent.,  but  the  consumption  of  liquor  and 
tobacco  nearly  100  per  cent. 

13 


146 


THE  LAW  OF  SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND. 


To  take  an  earlier  period  in  the  history  of  this  country,  we  see 
how  the  consumption  of  intoxicating  liquor  has  gone  on  increas¬ 
ing  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  increase  of  population.  In  1801 
the  population  of  the  United  Kingdom  was  16,000.000.  The 
annual  average  consumption  of  intoxicating  liquor  for  the  six 
years  ending  1801  was  as  follows: — Of  ardent  spirits,  7,200,338 
gals.  ( old  wine  measure) ;  beer,  4,735,574  barrels,  or  rather  less 
than  154,000,000  gals,  (this  was  the  actual ,  not  average  consump¬ 
tion  of  beer  in  1801);  of  wine,  for  the  five  years  ending  1795, 
7,000,000  gals.  ( old  wine  measure). 

•  In  1831,  the  population  of  the  United  Kingdom  had  increased 
to  24,000,000.  The  consumption  of  intoxicating  liquor  was  as 
follows: — The  annual  average  of  ardent  spirits  for  the  six  years 
ending  1831  was  25,652,428  gals.  ( old  wine  measure ),  of  wine, 
about  7,500,000  gals.  ( old  wine  measure ).  The  number  of  gallons 
of  strong  malt  liquors  brewed  by  publicans  and  brewers  during 
the  eight  years  preceding  1830,  was  in  England  alone,  about 
230,000,000,  (of  this  quantity  only  20,000,000  were  exported.) 
But  throwing  it  in  as  the  amount  consumed  in  Ireland  and 
Scotland,  what  have  we?  Why,  the  number  of  gallons  of  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquors  of  all  sorts  consumed  in  1801,  with  a  population 
of  16,000,000,  was  168,200,338;  or  rather  more  than  10.}  gals, 
per  head  of  the  population.  In  1831,  with  a  population  of 
24,000.000,  the  consumption  had  increased  to  263,152,428  gals, 
or  close  upon  11  gals,  per  head  of  the  population.  In  other 
words,  whilst  the  population  had  increased  during  that  term  of 
years  at  the  rate  of  50  per  cent.,  the  consumption  of  intoxicating 
liquor  had  increased  at  the  rate  of  56  per  cent.  Hence,  we  see, 
in  1831  we  were  a  more  drunken  people  than  in  1801  ;  and  a  still 
more  drunken  people  in  1868  than  in  1849.* 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  drink  market  has  never  yet 
been  glutted. 

In  other  commodities,  such  as  corn,  cotton,  and  woollen  goods, 
etc.,  should  the  supply  pass  beyond  certain  limits,  we  have  a 
glutted  market,  and  a  depreciation  in  the  value  of  the  goods,  and 
in  some  instances,  to  avoid  total  loss,  those  goods  have  been  sold 
at  less  than  prime  cost.  This  has  repeatedly  occurred  both  in 

*  The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  Mr.  Lowe,  in  a  speech  on  the  National 
Debt, — delivered  in  the  House  of  Commons,  June  2d,  1871. — advanced  the  fol¬ 
lowing  facts  :  The  consumption  of  beer  per  head  of  the  population  was  in 
1»25,  about  one-third  of  a  barrel;  in  1850  about  one-half  of  a  barrel;  and  in 
1870-1  about  four-fifths  of  a  barrel.  The  consumption  of  spirits,  home,  foreign, 
and  colonial,  was  in  IMS— -W8  of  a  gallon ;  in  1850—  048;  and  in  1870-1— 988  of 
a  gallon. 


THE  MARKET  THAT  KNOWS  NO  GLUT. 


147 


Australia  and  in  other  of  our  colonies.  Merchants  at  home,  in 
the  ardor  of  competition,  have  poured  goods  into  the  colonial 
market  far  ou  treadling  the  demands  of  the  colonists;  and  where 
these  goods  have  been  of  a  perishable  nature,  or  where  the  bond¬ 
ing  of  them  would,  in  a  short  time,  more  than  eat  up  their  value, 
they  have  been  sold  at  an  enormous  sacrifice.  But  we  have  never 
known  such  a  thing  to  occur  in  the  liquor  market.  This  market 
knows  no  glut.  The  consumption  ever  increases  with  the  supply. 
In  reference  to  the  necessaries  of  life  there  can  only  be  a  certain 
fixed  and  definite  demand,  proportioned  to  the  population.  The 
appetite  for  food  does  not  increase  with  what  it  feeds  upon;  it 
remains  pretty  stationary  and  regular,  and  bears  an  exact  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  real  and  fixed  wants  of  the  animal  economy.  But 
the  appetite  lor  strong  drink  increases  with  what  it  feeds  on,  and 
indeed  to  this  increase  we  can  assign  no  limits.  The  man  who 
consumes  a  quart  o(  beer  to  day,  and  is  satisfied  therewith,  will 
be  able  to  dispose  of  a  gallon  three  months  hence,  and  will’ then 
not  be  satisfied  ;  and  a  year  from  that  date  he  will  be  able  to 
consume  his  two  gallons;  and  so  the  appetite  goes  on  growing 

tiil  the  stomach  fails  in  its  power,  and  the  victim  sinks  into  a 
drunkard’s  grave. 

lhat  the  supply  of  the  so-called  narcotic  luxuries  of  life  is  the 
cause  ol  the  demand,  and  not  vice  versa,  is  strikingly  evident  if 
we  take  any  one  of  them  and  trace  its  history.  Talced  for  instance, 
tobacco.  First  of  all,  the  supply  was  brought  from  the  Now  World* 
when  smoking  was  introduced  into  France  by  Jean  Nicot,  the 
French  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Portugal,  and  into  England 
by  Sir  Irancis  Drake,  about  the  year  15G0.  At  this  time  the 
demand  was  exceedingly  limited  ;  but  as  the  practice  of  smokin^ 
extended,  the  demand  rapidly  increased,  and  to  make  the  supply 
keep  pace  with  the  demand  the  area  of  its  growth  was  extended, 
and  great  attention  was  paid  to  its  cultivation,  until  at  the 
present  day  we  find  it  cultivated,  not  only  in  Cuba,  where  it  was 
originally  discovered,  but  in  many  of  the  States  of  America  in 
South  America,  in  Persia,  in  Turkey,  in  India  and  Africa,  in  the 
islands- of  the  Eastern  Archipelago,  and  in  many  of  the  countries 
ol  Europe.  The  demand  has  kept  pace  with  the  enormous 
devC'Opment  ol  the  sources  of  supply.  In  18G8,  the  United 
Kingdom  alone  consumed  about  53,000,000  lbs. 

Persons  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  entertain  the  idea  that 
they  are  merely  supplying  a  legitimate  demand  on  the  part  of 


148 


THE  LAW  OF  SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND. 


the  people,  and  arc  very  angry  because  we  attempt  by  legislative 
means  to  put  an  end  to  this  traffic,  ihev  say  to  us,  AV  e  don  t 
invite  the  people  into  our  houses ;  we  merely  open  them  for  the 
supply  of  liquors,  and  if  people  choose  to  enter  and  ask  for  them 
it  is  our  duty  to  supply  them,  and  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  c  msequences  ;  that  is  their  look-out,  not  ours  ’  True,  they 
do  not  stand  at  the  door  of  their  houses,  inviting  the  parsers  by 
to  enter.  This  is  not  needed,  for  their  houses  possess  other 
attractions  of  a  very  peculiar  character,  attractions  quite  suffi¬ 
cient  to  draw  custom,  without  a  verbal  invitation. 

To  our  mind  there  is,  at  least,  a  distant  resemblance  between 
“mine  host”  of  the  tap  and  that  very  interesting  insect  the 
spider.  Now'  the  spider  does  not  .invite  the  flies  to  his  web. 
Not  he!  He  has  other  stratagems  far  more  likely  to  prove 
successful.  lie  selects,  in.  the  first  place,  a  most  eligible  spot 
■where  sunbeams  play  and  flies  do  “  mostly  congregate.  lie 
there  spreads  abroad  the  meshes  of  his  web,  and  as  he  would  not 
like  to  frighten  away  the  flies  by  exposing  to  view  his  own  ugly 
carcass,  he  constructs  for  himself  a  very  snug  little  back  parlor, 
where,  screened  from  observation,  he  awaits  patiently  and  not 
in  vain,  for  his  prey.  Though  he  does  not  invite  the  flies  to  his 
web,  yet  somehow  or  other  they  find  their  way  to  it,  flies  of  all 
kinds,  not  even  daddy  long-legs  escaping,  and  they  become  en¬ 
tangled  to  their  destruction. 

So  with  those  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic.  I  hey  don  t 
invite  the  people  into  their  houses,  but  they  plant  them  in  most 
eligible  spots.  If  they  aim  at  securing  the  patronage  of  the 
respect  . ble  and  well-to-do  classes,  they  se.ect  the  corners  or 
centres  of  fine  streets  in  business  localities,  and  take  the  largest 
and  most  imposing  edifices;  if,  however,  they  intend  to  content 
themselves  writh  the  riffraff  and  dregs  of  society,  and  with  the 


refuse  of  the  more  respectable  houses,  then  they  select  gloomy 
back  slums  with  back-door  conveniences,  so  that  their  wretched 
customers  may  slip  in  and  out  unobserved,  lo  make  their 
business  a  success  they  must  act  upon  the  same  general  prin¬ 
ciples  as  tradesmen  in  the  successful  prosecution  of  other  trades. 
There  comes  this  very  natural  inquiry:  “  How  can  I  increase 
the  demand  for  my  liquor,  so  that  I  may  receive  the  profits 
arising  from  a  larger  sale?”  This  is  accomplished  in  a  variety 
of  ways.  One  will  get  up  a  “  Free  and  Easy,”  another  a  dance, 
another  will  engage  a  band  of  music,  one  will  establish 


LIVE  AND  LET  LIVE. 


149 

a  Benefit  Society  ’  in  connection  with  his  house,  another  a 
Fiee  Lunch  all  with  a  view  of  enticing  people  to  their 
establishments,  and  to  secure  a  larger  sale.  Many  of  them  also 
advertise  the  excellent  qualities  of  their  liquors ;  in  fact,  we 
cannot  unfold  a  newspaper  without  finding  these  eulogistic, 
extravagant,  and  empirical  advertisements.  Many  of  them  also 
take  advantage  of  the  very  nature  and  tendency  of  the  liquor, 
■which  is  to  create  for  itself  a  demand  by  its  peculiar  action  on 
the  drinker.  It  produces  a  feeling  of  jollity  and  vivacity,  and 
by  obscuring  the  judgment,  occasions  a  recklessness  of  conduct, 
and  banishes  care.  Anacreon  well  expresses  this  in  one  of  his 
musical  odes : 


‘‘Vhen  gay  Bacchus  cheers  my  breast, 
All  my  cares  are  lull’d  to  rest; 

Griefs  that  weep,  and  toils  that  please, 
What  have  I  to  do  with  these? 

Ko  solicitudes  can  save 
Mortals  irom  the  gloomy  grave. 

Shall  I  thus  myself  deceive? 

Shall  I  languish?  Shall  I  grieve? 
Let  us  quaff  the  generous  juice ; 
Bacchus  gave  it  for  our  use, 

For  when  wine  transports  the  breast, 
All  our  cares  are  lull’d  to  rest." 


Strong  drink  excites  the  conversational  tendency.  It  does  not 
improve  conversation,  but  gives  everybody  a  strong  desire  to 
talk,  and  a  disposition  to  be  pleased  with  trifles.  AY  hen  people 
arc  exhilarated  with  drink,  they  will  grimace  and  laugh,  even 
when  there  is  nothing  substantial  to  cail  forth  their  risible  facul¬ 
ties.  1  he  more  unprincipled  traders  increase  the  already  nar¬ 
cotic  properties  of  their  liquor  by  a  still  further  addition  of 
stupefying  drugs,  as  the  heavier  alcohols,  cocculus  indicus, 
tobacco  and  others  of  a  similar  character. 


On  the  \\  hole,  then,  though  the  law  is  to  blame  in  the  first 
place,  the  publican  is  responsible  for  his  craft,  and  chargeable 
with  the  luin  it  entails. 

li  a  flickers  are  very  angry  with  teetotalers,  because  wo  seek 
by  legislative  means  to  annihilate  their  traffic.  They  brand  us 
with  being  inconsiderate  and  selfish,  and  say,  “LeUhis  maxim 
guide  }  ou,  Live  and  let  live.’  ”  This  maxim  is  sound  and  good, 
but  the  traffickers  live  every  day  in  open  violation  of  its  prin- 


150 


THE  LAW  OF  SUPPLY  AND  DEMAND. 


ciple,  which  is,  that  wc  are  to  earn  a  livelihood  in  a  manner 
compatible  with  the  lives  of  other  people.  We  are  to  live  with 
other  people,  and  not  like  leeches  upon  tliem. 

The  traffickers  live  upon  other  people,  at  their  expense,  and 
in  a  way  that  destroys  them.  They  realize  a  livelihood  it  is 
true,  and  some  of  them  a  very  handsome  one.  But  around 
them  wrecks  are  strewn.  Yes  1  Wiecks  of  once  noble  men  and 
virtuous  women,  and  homes  of  happiness  and  peace.  The  ven¬ 
dors  live,  but  the  people  die.  They  live,  and  500,000  drunkards 
desecrate  the  soil.  They  live,  and  1,500,000  paupers  press 
heavily  upon  the  rate-paying  portion  of  the  community.  They 
live,  and  50,000  lunatics,  deprived  of  bright  intellect,  or  stricken 
by  strong  drink  with  hopeless  idiotcy,  wail  in  our  asylums.  They 
live,  and  50,009  victims  are  every  year  laid  prematurely  beneath 
the  sod.  They  live,  while  crime,  sorrow,  and  disease  afflict  the 
land.  It  cannot  be  right  to  make  a  living  at  the  cost  of  so  much 
sin,  and  suffering,  and  death. 

This  truth  applies  with  equal  force  to  the  manufacturers.  For 
if  it  be  not  right  to  se'l  intoxicating  liquors,  it  cannot  be  right  to 
manufacture  them,  lienee,  all  the  evil  and  ruin  charged  home 
upon  the  vendors,  may  with  equal  force  be  laid  at  the  doors  of 
the  manufacturers.  It  is  true  many  of  them  are  further  removed 
than  the  vendors  from  the  concrete  effects  of  the  liquor  they 
manufacture  and  send  out  to  the  ruin  of  their  neighbors — • 
away  from  the  busy  centres  of  industry;  residing,  it  may  be, 
in  sumptuous  palaces,  surrounded  by  beautiful  rural  scenery, 
with  the  sweet  face  of  nature  upon  which  to  gaze.  Wealthy 
brewers  and  distillers  are  not  often  brought  into  direct  contact 
with  the  wretched  victims  of  the  traffic,  and  in  consequence, 
cannot  realize  to  the  full  extent  all  its  horrors.  They  see  not 
the  palsied  and  ragged  creatures  passing  in  and  out  of  the  very 
shops  supplied  with  drink  from  their  stores — often  their  “  tied- 
houses.”  Yet,  nevertheless,  there  the  misery  exists, — flowing 
a’ike  from  the  manufacture  and  the  sale, — and  the  awful 
responsibility  will  follow. 

If  some  of  those  manufacturers,  known  as  being  men  of  kindly 
dispositions,  and  whose  names  rank  high  in  the  world  of  philan¬ 
thropy,  would  only  take  their  stand,  say  on  a  Saturday  night, 
opposite  one  of  those  houses  in  our  large  towns,  supplied  with 
drink  from  their  stores,  and  then,  from  this  point  of  observation, 
pass  to  the  homes  of  the  wretched  inebriates  gathered  around 


TIIE  TRAFFIC  A  BAD  ONE. 


151 


the  bar  of  that  house,  and  note  the  rags,  and  wretchedness,  and 
want,  and  discomfort  they  present,  they  would  see  sufficient  to 
convince  them  that  they  are  daily  violating  the  second  great 
commandment  of  the  law,  “  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy¬ 
self j’  as  well  as  that  worthy  maxim  founded  upon  it,  “  Live  ancl 
let  live.” 

No  doubt  the  traffickers  and  manufacturers  do  love  their 
neighbors,  but  then  they  love  themselves  a  great  deal  better; 
and  the  strong  monetary  interests  at  stake  are  sufficient  to 
outweigh  all  considerations  founded  upon  philanthropy  and 
morality.  Robert  Burns  has  well  said: 

“  I’ll  no  say  men  are  villains  a’ ; 

The  real  harden’d  wicked, 

Wha  liae  nae  check  but  human  law, 

Are  to  a  few  restricted ; 

But,  och!  mankind  are  unco’  weak, 

An’  little  to  be  trusted — 

If  self  the  wavering  balance  shake, 

It’s  rarely  right  adjusted!" 

The  traffic  in  strong  drink  is  now  deemed,  by  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  people,  highly  respectable,  and  a  great  deal  of 
wealth  is  sunk  in  it,  and  many  men  of  high  position  in  society 
are  engaged  in  it.  But,  for  all  that,  the  day  will  come,  when 
with  an  enlightened  public  sentiment,  and  a  high  toned  mo¬ 
rality,  those  engaged  in  this  traffic  shall  be  deemed  pests  of 
society,  shall  be  shunned  by  all  respectable  people  who  have  any 
regard  whatever  for  their  own  character,  and  shall  be  classed  in 
the  same  catalogue  with  vendors  of  indecent  prints,  manufac¬ 
turers  of  false  life-buoys  and  rotten  cables,  in  fact,  with  all  those 
who  seek  to  obtain  a  livelihood  at  the  expense  of  the  virtue  and 
safety  of  the  community. 


152 


BACCHUS  DETHRONED. 


CHAPTER,  Y. 

s 

THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  INTOXICATING  LIQUORS  DESTRUCTIVE 

AND  IMMORAL. 

Prop.  VI. — “  That  it  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  God,  and  con¬ 
sequently  sinful  and  immoral,  to  convert  the  food  of  the  people 
into  a  liquid  poison,  that  naturally  destroys  the  bodies  and  souls 
of  men .” 

Tiie  liquor  traffic  is  a  violation  of  God’s  will,  for  two  reasons. 
1.  Because  it  perverts  from  its  natural  use  the  food  that  ought 
to  go  to  nourish  the  people,  and  transforms  it  into  a  poisoned 
beverage ;  and,  2.  Because  the  natural  tendency  of  this  liquor  is 
to  destroy  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men. 

There  are  three  sources  whence  we  may  derive  a  knowledge 
of  God’s  will.  From  the  Bible,  from  history,  and  from  nature 
scientifically  interrogated. 

These  three  volumes  are  equally  Divine,  for  they  are  written 
with  the  finger  of  God.  In  fact,  a  proper  and  devout  attention 
to  each  will  soon  convince  us  that  there  exists  between  them 
a  wondrous  harmony — that  the  same  spirit  pervades  them  all, 
and  that  they  are  mutually  explanative,  the  one  interpreting 
and  unfolding  the  great  truths  contained  in  the  other. 

The  Bible  contains  that  revelation  from  the  Supreme  Being 
•which  informs  us  of  man’s  moral  and  spiritual  relationship  to 
God,  and  to  that  great  moral  and  spiritual  world  of  which  He 
forms  a  part.  It  points  out  to  man  his  duty  and  his  destiny. 
(See  Chap,  vii.) 

History,  when  its  facts  are  correctly  recorded,  indicates  to  us 
the  course  of  God’s  providence  among  the  nations,  and  gives 
expression  to  Ilis  will  concerning  them — chiefly,  it  informs  us 
that  national  vices  bring  national  misery  and  ruin,  and  that 
national  virtues  bring  national -prosperity  and  happiness. 

Science  is  the  volume  of  nature,  and  is,  in  fact,  a  com¬ 
mentary  upon  God’s  revelation,  for  the  laws  of  Nature 
aid  us  in  understanding  more  perfectly  its  meaning.  The 


THE  VOICE  OF  GOD  IN  NATURE. 


153 


volume  of  nature  is  sadly  too  little  studied  by  Christians, 
v  ho  seem  to  regard  it  with  suspicion,  as  though  it  were  the 
creation  of  some  strange  God  ! 

In  this  chapter  we  shall  consider  God's  will  as  expressed  more 
particularly  in  Providence  and  Nature.  It  requires  no  elaborate 
argumentation  to  show  that  the  food  God  hath  so  abundantly 
supplied,  ought  to  be  applied  to  its  legitimate  uses,  viz  :  to 
feed  his  children.  The  misappropriation  of  food,  or  its  wanton 
destiuction,  is  a  plain  violation  of  God’s  will.  This  is  more 
especially  the  case  when  such  misappropriation  or  destruction 
entails  starvation  upon  thousands.  It  then  becomes  one  of  the 
greatest  crimes  that  can  be  committed  against  the  human  family, 
and  a  dark  and  daring  sin  against  the  glorious  beneficence  of 
God.  lie  that  withhcldeth  the  corn,  the  people  shall  curse 
him.  This  applies  with  still  greater  force  to  the  man  who 
destroys  corn,  than  to  him  who  refuses  to  bring  it  into  the  market 
in  times  of  scarcity.  We  visit  with  severe  punishment  the 
incendiary  who  fires  his  neighbor's,  or  even  his  own  stacks,  and 
thereby  destroys  the  staff  of  life. 

Ihe  manufacture  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  a  wanton  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  food  of  the  people  ;  for  it  converts  that  food  into  a 
form  in  which  it  is  perfectly  useless  as  a  nutritive  aliment.  In 
converting  barley  into  beer,  grape-juice  into  brandy,  corn  into 
whisky,  apples  into  cider,  the  nutritive  properties  of  these  sub¬ 
stances  are  as  thoroughly  destroyed  as  though  they  had  been 
consigned  to  the  devouring  flame.  In  an  analytical  report  on 
wines,  published  in  the  Lancet ,  October  26,  1867,  it  is  said,  “  In 
every  1000  grain  measures  of  the  clarets  and  burgundies  tested, 
the  mean  amount  of  albuminous  matter  present  was  only  1^ 
giains,  whilst  in  1000  grains  by  weight  of  raw  beef  there  are  no 
less  than  207  grains  of  such  matter.  That  is,  the  quantities 
being  equal,  beef-steak  is  156  times  more  nutritious  than  wine.” 
Ihus  tlieie  is  no  foundation  whatever  for  considering  these  beve- 
lngos  as  a  mere  change  in  the  form  of  food,  but  a  very  strong 
foundation  for  considering  them  as  pernicious  and  innutritious 
results  of  the  wanton  destruction  of  food. 

Again,  if  we  trace  the  different  processes  of  manufacture,  wo 
find  that,  at  each  stage,  the  nutritive  properties  of  “food”  are 
l ulhlessly  destroyed  in  order  to  prepare  a  beverage  that  shall 
excite  the  nervous  system,  and  gratify  a  morbid  taste. 


154  MANUFACTURE  DESTRUCTIVE  AND  IMMORAL. 


Take,  for  instance,  the  manufacture  of  ale.  The  process  is 
thus  lucidly  described  by  Mr.  Joseph  Livesey : 

"We  shall  find  that  at  every  step  [in  brewing]  the  object  is  not  to 
secure  a  feeding,  but  an  intoxicating  liquor,  and  that  to  obtain  this 
the  feeding  properties  of  the  barley  are  sacrificed  at  every  stage.  In 
making  a  gallon  of  strong  ale  (nine  gallons  to  the  bushel),  6  lbs  of 
barley  is  used,  which,  to  commence  with,  is  6  lbs.  of  good,  nutritious 
food,  excepting  the  husk.  I  will  here  briefly  run  over  the  processes  of 
converting  this  into  ale,  to  show  how,  when  the  ale  is  served  up.  this 
6  lbs.  is  reduced  to  rather  less  than  £  lb.  The  bailey  has  to  unde  go 
four  processes  before  it  becomes  beer,  in  every  one  of  which  it  loses 
part  of  its  nutriment.  The  first  is  malting.  The  grain  is  steeped  iu 
water  two  days  and  nights;  in  this  wet  state  it  is  placed  on  the  malt¬ 
ster’s  floor,  eight  or  nine  inches  deep,  till  it  begins  to  heat  and  vegetate, 
and  to  secure  equal  vegetation  it  is  turned  every  day,  the  Sunday  not 
excepted.  When  the  spores  and  rootlets  are  sufficiently  developed,  the 
grain  is  put  on  the  kiln  to  dry,  and  afterwards  these  are  taken  off  by  a 
machine,  and  are  called  ‘malt  combs.’  In  this  process  there  is  a  loss 
of  about  lbs.  The  object  of  thus  spritting  the  barley  is  to  produce 
in  the  grain  more  saccharine  matter,  which,  in  the  process  of  ferment¬ 
ing  the  liquor,  becomes  changed  into  spirit,  and  thus  renders  the  ale 
strong,  that  is,  intoxicating!  The  more  saccharine  matter,  or  sugar, 
that  any  substance  contains  when  brought  into  a  state  of  solution  and 
fermented,  the  more  spirit  can  be  obtained.  After  crushing  the  malt, 
the  next  step  is  mashing.  This  consists,  not  in  boiling  the  grain,  but 
putting  it  into  hot  water  at  a  temperature  of  170  degrees,  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  melting  out  the  sugar  or  saccharine  matter  produced  in  malting. 
After  mashing  a  sufficient  length  of  time  the  brewer  draws  off  the  liquor, 
so  long  as  it  runs  sweet,  and  rejects  all  the  rest,  which  is  sold  to  farmers 
in  the  shape  of  ‘  grains.'  The  rejected  parts  of, barley  here  are  at  least- 
2  lbs.  The  sweet  wort  thus  drawn  off  would  not  intoxicate,  whatever 
quantity  a  person  was  to  take.  The  next  process,  after  mixing  the 
liquor  with  hop  water,  is  to  ferment  it.  It  is  here  all  the  mischief  is 
done.  Carbonic-acid-gas  and  alcohol  (the  intoxicating  agent)  are  here 
produced.  The  sugar  becomes  decomposed,  and  a  recomposition  takes 
place,  forming  these  two.  Sugar  being  nutritious,  and  spirit  not  so, 
the  loss  of  nutriment  by  this  change  and  by  the  overflow  of  barm 
(which  was  part  of  the  barley)  is  about  1  tb.,  the  exchange  being  the  gas 

and  the  spirit . The  fourth  process  is  that  of  fining. 

People  don’t  like  muddy  ale,  and  as  some  thick  matter  cannot  be  pre¬ 
vented  coming  over  in  mashing,  the  liquor  is  put  to  settle,  and  these 
settlings  are  disposed  of  as  ‘  barrel  bottoms.’  These  bottoms  are  really 
parts  of  the  barley,  and  the  loss  here  again  is  at  least  £  lb.  These  are  the 
losses  during  the  four  stages  of  beer  making: 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  FERMENTED  DRINKS.  155 

We  begin  with  barley .  q 


In  malting,  we  abstract  as  ‘  malt  combs’ . . .  lbs. 

In  mashing,  we  dispose  of  as  ‘  grains’ .  2  “ 

In  fermenting,  we  lose  in  sugar,  gas,  and  ‘barm’ .  1  “ 

In  fining,  we  reject  as  ‘barrel  bottoms’ .  f  “ 


5j  lbs. 

So  that  when  we  come  to  examine  the  beer,  we  find  that  there  is  not  more 
than  12  ozs  ,  generally  not  more  than  10  ozs.,  in  the  gallon,  of  barley  left, 
and  this  chiefly  gum,  the  worth  of  which,  when  compared  with  other  food’ 

is  less  than  a  penny.*' . It  is  the  alconol  or  spirit  in  the  ale — 

the  whisky  in  lact — which  deceives  people,  and  makes  them  believe  they 
are  gaining  strength,  when  they  get  only  stimulation,  which  is  a  waste  of 
strength." — Lecture  on  Malt. 

The  analysis  of  Leer  fully  confirms  -the  above.  According  to 
Dr.  Lankesters  analysis,  the  following  is  the  composition  of  the 
different  fermented  beverages. 

An  imperial  pint  contains  : 


STRONG  ALE. 

STOUT. 

oz. 

gr- 

oz. 

gr. 

Water . 

>— » 

00 

0 

Water . 

18* 

0 

Alcohol . 

2 

0 

Alcohol . 

1* 

0 

Sugar  . 

1 

136 

lSh  rrn.r 

n 

981 

Acetic  acid . 

0 

57 

Acetic  acid . 

0 

AO  L 

54 

Gum . 

0 

131 

• 

Extractive  . 

0 

408 

MILD  ALE. 

PORTER. 

Water . 

18f 

0 

Water . 

19 

111 

Alcohol . 

1* 

0 

Alcohol . 

0 

326 

Sugar  . 

0 

280 

A rmf ir»  nrdd 

o 

4A 

Acetic  acid . 

•0 

38 

Gum  . 

\J 

o 

Extractive . 

0 

402 

The  sum  is,  that  fermented  beverages  contain  a  largo  pro¬ 
portion  of  water  which  we  can  get  elsewhere  ;  a  variable  quantity 
of  alcohol,  ranging  from  2  oz.  to  32G  gr.  ;  a  variable  quantity  of 
acetic  acid,  or  vinegar;  a  variable  quantity  of  sugar,  ranging 
from  1  oz.  136  gr.  to  zero;  with  a  small  proportion  of  gum  and 
extractive.  The  extractive,  of  course,  is  a  curious  compound, 
“  an  incongruous  mass  of  heterogeneous  matter,”  containing  all 

*  Gum  is  not  food :  for  it  passes  through  the  intestines  unchanged.— Ed. 


I 


156  MANUFACTURE  DESTRUCTIVE  AND  IMMORAL. 


the  abominable  drugs  superaddcd,  to  improve  the  flavor  and  to 
increase  the  intoxicating  power! 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  extent  of  the  waste  involved 
in  this  traffic. 

In  Scotland  there  is  raised  annually  about  five  million  quarters 
of  grain  ;  that  is,  40,000,000  bushels.  But  in  1869  we  consumed 
in  distillation,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  beer,  63,000,000  bushels, 
or  nearly  8,000,000  quarters.  This  grain,  passed  through  the 
mill,  would  make  10,500,000  sacks,  or  26,250,000  cwts.  of  flour, 
and  allowing  four  cwts.  as  the  annual  average  consumption  per 
head,  we  have  sufficient  flour  here  to  feed  6,562,500  people  a 
whole  year. 

In  1868  we  imported  into  this  country  from  abroad,  in  grain 
and  flour,  66,750,000  cwts.,  at  a  cost  of  £39,000,000.  llad  it  not 
been  for  the  wanton  destruction  of  grain  in  the  manufacture  of 
intoxicating  liquor,  more  than  one-third  of  this  amount  might 
have  been  saved.  In  years  of  scarcity  and  famine,  this  wanton 
destruction  of  grain  in  our  breweries  and  distilleries  still  goes  on, 
and  the  traffickers  steel  their  hearts  against  the  loud  wail  of  a 
famine-stricken  people.  When,  for  instance,  in  the  years  1846- 
1847,  a  famine  ravaged  Ireland,  consequent  upon  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  potato  crop, — a  famine  which  swept  away  half  a 
million  of  people, — the  brewers  and  distillers  had  within  their 
granaries  a  larger  supply  of  grain  than  ever,  but  not  a  single 
barley-corn  would  they  part  with  to  feed  a  starving  people.  It 
is,  certainly,  a  very  great  sin  to  waste  the  nation’s  food,  but 
greater  still  to  transform  it  into  an  instrument  of  demoralization 
and  ruin.  If  a  man  hated  his  race  with  all  the  dark,  relentless 
malignity  of  Satan,  he  could  not  have  hit  upon  a  more  effectual 
method  of  gratifying  it,  than  by  engaging  in  the  manufacture  of 
these  death-dealing  liquors. 

Paley,  in  his  “Moral  Philosophy,”  says: — “From  reason ,  or 
revelation,  or  from  both  together,  it  appears  to  be  God  Almighty’s 
intention  that  the  productions  of  the  earth  should  be  applied  to 
the  sustentation  of  human  life,  consequently,  all  waste  and 
misapplication  of  these  productions  is  contrary  to  the  Divine 
intention  and  will,  and  therefore  wrong,  for  the  same  reason  that 
any  other  crime  is  so  ;  such  as  destroying,  or  suffering  to  perish, 
a  great  part  of  an  article  of  human  provision,  in  order  to  enchance 
the  price  of  the  remainder,  or  diminishing  the  breed  of  animals 
by  a  wanton  or  improvident  consumption  of  the  young.  To  this 


PAUPERISM  AND  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


157 


head  may  also  be  referred,  which  is  the  same  evil  in  a.  smaller 
way,  the  expenditure  of  human  food  on  superfluous  dogs,  or 
horses ;  and  lastly,  the  reducing  the  quantity  in  order  to  alter  tue 
quality,  and  to  alter  it  generally  for  the  worse,  as  the  distillation 
of  spirits  from  bread-corn.” 

Our  proposition  states  that  the  liquid  poison  produced  from 
the  food  of  the  people  “  naturally  destroys  the  bodies  and  souls 
of  men.” 

In  our  first  chapter  we  have  shown  that  the  actual  effects  of 
strong  drink  are  poverty,  disease  and  crime.  These  effects  are 
not  merely  accidental,  flowing  from  the  so-called  “abuse”  of  it, 
in  the  same  sense  that  indigestion  may  be  supposed  to  come  from 
the  abuse  of  food  5  but  it  is  the  very  nature  of  drink  to  produce 
these  evil  fruits. 

It  is  of  the  nature  of  these  liquors  to  pauperize  the  people. 
Their  imbibition  creates  an  inordinate  craving  that  refuses  to  be 
satisfied,  and  impelled  onward  by  this,  thousands  who  can  but  ill 
afford  it,  expend  the  larger  portion  of  their  slender  incomes  upon 
that  “  which  satisfieth  not,”  and  thus  bring  both  themselves  and 
families  to  destitution  ;  while  the  manufacture  of  intoxicating 
'drqirors'makes  a  dearer  loaf,  and  a  lessened  income.  Now  it  is 
as  much  as  thousands  of  our  work-people  can  do  to  keep  the 
wolf  from  the  door,  even  when  in  constant  employment,  and  a 
few  days’  loss  of  work  throws  many  of  them  upon  the  parish. 

Ilow  has  government  sought  to  meet  this  abounding  pauperism, 

produced  by  drink  and  the  drink  traffic?  Why,  by  establishing 

a  system  of  heavy  local  taxation,  and  a  mode  of  relief  ruinous  to 

societv,  and  at  war  with  all  the  most  sacred  affections  of  our 
•/  /  . 

nature.  By  the  present  system  of  parochial  relief,  poverty  is 
"degraded  to  a  crime;  for  the  punishments  inflicted  upon  many 
of  our  paupers,  especially  in  the  workhouses  of  many  of  our 
large  towns,  in  poor  fare,  confinement,  and  harsh  treatment,  are 
often  much  more  severe  than  those  inflicted  upon  criminals. 

In  the  yard  of  one  of  our  metropolitan  workhouses,  some 
years  ago,  a  poor  old  man,  seventy  years  of  age,  was  enjoying  a 
few  whiffs  from  his  pipe.  One  of  the  officials  advanced  towards 
him,  and  in  a  most  dastardly  and  cruel  manner  knocked  the 
pipe  out  of  his 'mouth,  with  this  remark,  “  You  must  not  think, 
old  cove,  that  you  have  come  here  to  live,  for  you  have  come 
here  to  die.”  This  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  a  brutalizing 
system,  of  which  the  Traffic  is  the  fountain. 

14 


158  MANUFACTURE  DESTRUCTIVE  AND  IMMORAL. 


The  present  mode  of  administering  relief  is  a  premium 
upon  vice,  while  it  inflicts  upon  the  deserving  poor  a  punish¬ 
ment  almost  too  heavy  to  bear.  We  have  known  drunken 
families  revelling  in  parochial  relief,  and  deserving  families, 
reduced  to  penury  by  misfortune,  most  barbarously  treated. 
The  former,  hardened  and  brutalized  by  drink,  have  made  it 
their  business  to  study  the  most  efficient  means  of  swindling 
the  rate-payers  of  their  hard-earned  cash,  and  with  barefaced 
impudence,  or  cringing  importunities,  appeal  for  that  relief 
which  they  neither  deserve  nor  need  ;  but  the  honest  and  sober 
2)00'-,  when  reduced  to  poverty  by  some  dire  misfortune,  feel  a 
praiseworthy  repugnance  in  applying  for  relief,  and  when  at 
last  compelled  to  do  so,  the  first  repulse  disheartens  them,  and 
they  retire  to  their  cheerless  homes  and  empty  larders,  possibly 
to  die  of  starvation,  or  be  driven  to  end  their  suffering  in  suicide. 
The  drunken  and  worthless  take  good  care  that  they  sustain  no 
lufrtp~Snd  their  loud  clamors,  after  spending  their  means  in 
drink,  bring  them  speedy  relief,  which,  should  it  take  the  outr" 
door  form,  is'  partly  spent  in  gratifying  their  debasing  and 
insane  propensity.  Bailie  Lewis,  of  Edinburgh,  recently  made 
this  statement  : — “  Tens  of  thousands  of  pounds,  administered 
to  paupers  in  Scotland,  are  annually  expended,  not  in  supporting, 
but  in  stiil  further  degrading  the  drunken  recipients.  Within 
the  last  twelve  months  I  have  personally  witnessed  numbers  of 
the  out  door  paupers  of  one  of  the  city  parishes  leaving  the  pay- 
table^  and  going  direct  to  the  public-houses  in  the  neighborhood. 
During  the  last  year  there  has  been  expended  in  out  door  relief 
in  Edinburgh  .about  £20,000,  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying, 
from  information  I  possess,  that  nearly  one-third  of  that  sum 
will  have  been  spent  in  drink.”  The  present  method  of  admin¬ 
istering  parochial  relief  is  also  a  most  expensive  one,  taking 
£10,000,000  per  annum  to  support  it,  a  large  proportion  of  which 
is  lavished  in  building  large  houses,  almost  palatial  in  appear¬ 
ance,  and  in  supporting  clouds  of  officials,  whilst  the  recipients 
of  relief  receive  the  most  meagre  treatment. 

Dr.  Chalmers,  in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise,  speaking  of  the 
poor-law  system,  says: — “It  hath  by  the  most  pernicious  of  all 
bribery,  relaxed  the  ties  and  obligations  of  mutual  relationship, 
exonerating  parents,  on  the  one  hand,  from  the  care  and  main¬ 
tenance  of  their  own  offspring  ;  and  tempting  children  on  the 
other,  to  cast  off  their  parents  who  gave  them  birth,  and  instead 


THE  TRAFFIC  DEMORALIZING 


159 


of  an  asylum  gladdened  by  the  associations  and  sympathies  of 
home,  consigning  them  for  the  last  ciosing  years  of  weakness  and 
decrepitude  to  the  dreary  imprisonment  of  a  poor-house. 

4,Ilad  the  beautiful  arrangements  of  nature  not  been  disturbed, 
the  relative  affections  which  she  herself  has  implanted  would 
have  been  found  strong  enough,  as  in  other  countries,  to  have 
secured  through  the  means  of  a  domestic  economy  alone,  a 
provision  for  both  young  and  old  in  far  greater  unison  w  th  both 
the  comfort  and  virtue  of  families.  The  corrupt  and  dernoral- 
iz'ng  system  of  England  mi  girt  well  serve  as  a  lesson  to  phi  an- 
thropists  and  statesmen,  of  the  positive  and  undoubted  mischief 
to  which  the  best  interests  of  humanity  are  exposed — when  they 
traverse  the  process  of  a  better  mechanism  instituted  by  the* 
wisdom  of  God,  through  the  operation  of  another  mechanism 
devised  by  a  wisdom  of  their  own.” 

We  have  dwelt  thus  long  upon  the  defects  of  the  poor-law 
system,  because  it  is  our  conscientious  conviction  that,  whilst  the 
drink  traffic  is  the  fruitful  cause  of  at  least  three-fourths  of  our 
pauperism,  our  present  mode  of  dealing  with  paupers  tends  to 
aggravate  the  evil,  and  thus  the  traffic  and  the  pauper  system 
continue  to  act  and  react  upon  each  other,  till  now,  at  the  pr<  sent 
time,  the  evil  has  grown  to  such  huge  dimensions  as  to  impede 
the  progress,  and  seriously  to  threaten  the  safety  of  the  nation. 

That  it  is  the  natural  tendency  of  this  traffic  to  produce  dis¬ 
ease ,  and  so  naturally  destroy  the  bodies  of  men,  has  been  shown 
in  chapters  i.  and  nr. 

But  it  is  no  less  destructive  to  the  souls  of  men — to  man’s  high 
spiritual  and  moral  nature.  It  is  also  of  the  nature  of  these 
drinks  to  demoralize  and  corrupt,  and  thus  to  produce  crime 
— the  most  revolting  and  unnatural.  It  does  so,  because  alcohol , 
by  its  action  upon  the  brain  and  nervous  system,  tends  to  para¬ 
lyze  the  will,  to  set  conscience  asleep,  while  it  arouses  at  the 
same  time  the  criminal  proclivities  of  man. 

In  this  respect  alcohol  is  unique.  There  are  no  agents  that 
we  know  of  in  the  laboratory  of  nature,  not  even  the  most 
deadly,  that  possess  the  same  action.  Cocculus  Indians ,  with 
which  alcoholic  beverages  are  frequently  adulterated,  makes,  we 
believe,  the  nearest  approach  to  it,  but  it  is  too  stupefactive  to 
do  much  harm  without  the  aid  of  its  terrible  allv,  alcohol. 

Herodotus  informs  us  that  the  Scythians  became  intoxicated 
by  inhaling  the  vapor  from  the  seeds  of  a  kind  of  flax;  and 


160  MANUFACTURE  DESTRUCTIVE  AND  IMMORAL. 

modern  medicine  has  observed,  that  the  odor  alone  of  Ilvoscia- 
mus,  particularly  when  its  power  is  heightened  by  the  action  of 
heat,  produces  in  those  who  inhale  it  a  disposition  to  anger  and 
quarrelling. 

‘‘The  Dictionaire  de  Medicine  de  V Encyclopedic  Melhodique 
(Tome  7),  cites  three  examples.  The  most  remarkable  is  that  of 
a  married  couple,  who,  perfectly  harmonious  and  affectionate 
everywhere  else,  could  not  pass  a  few  hours  together  in  the  loom 
where  they  worked,  without  engaging  in  the  most  bloody  strife. 
The  room  was  thought  to  be  enchanted  or  bewitched.  At  length 
it  was  discovered  that  the  whole  blame  of  these  terrible  disputes 
was  attributable  to  a  large  packet  of  the  seeds  of  Ilyosciamus, 
•placed  near  a  stove,  and  their  removal  caused  a  perfect  restor¬ 
ation  of  peace.” — Dr.  Belenaye,  On  Hygiene ,  p.  105,  1832. 

Then  there  is  opium,  that  terrible  scourge  to  the  inhabitants 
of  India  and  China.  But  vastly  different  are  its  effects  to  that 
of  the  tyrant  Alcohol.  Though  its  habitual  use  is  fraught  with 
the  greatest  mischief  to  the  body  and  mind  of  man,  yet  it  arouses 
not  the  criminal  tendencies,  it  urges  not  its  victims  to  deeds  of 
violence  and  bloodshed.  In  fact,  its  action  would  appear  to  be 
quite  the  other  way.  When  under  the  exciting  stage  of  its  influ¬ 
ence,  people  feel  averse  to  crime ;  and  when  the  stage  of  depres¬ 
sion  comes*on,  they  are  too  helpless  to  commit  deeds  of  violence. 
We  never  yet  knew  a  man  fortify  himself  with  laudanum  when 
he  was  about  to  commit  some  atrocious  deed.  Brandy  is  the 
terrible  agent  used  by  criminals.  Of  opium,  De  Quincey  says, 
in  his  “Confessions”: — “It  introduced  among  the  mental  powers 
exquisite  order,  legislation,  and  harmony.  It  invigorates  self- 
possession,  it  communicates  serenity  and  equipoise  to  all  the 
faculties,  active  or  passive,  a/tcZ,  with  respect  to  the  moral  feelings  in 
general ,  it  gave  simply  that  sort  of  vital  warmth  which  is  approved 
of  by  the  judgment,  and  ivhich  would  probably  always  accompany 
a  bodily  constitution  of  jorimeval ,  or  antediluvian  health.  It 
gives  an  expansion  to  the  heart  and  benevolent  affections.  The 
opium  eater  feels  that  the  diviner  part  of  his  nature  is  promoted, 
that  his  moral  affections  are  in  a  state  of  cloudless  serenity;  and 
over  all  is  the  great  light  of  the  majestic  intellect.” 

Now  what  are  the  effects  of  alcohol  during  the  exciting  stage 
of  its  influence?  Why,  it  distorts  the  imagination,  it  weakens 
the  controlling  power  of  the  mind,  it  obscures  the  moral  percep¬ 
tions,  and  overthrows  the  intellect,  while  at  the  same  time  it 


EFFECTS  OF  DRINKING  ON  THE  INDIVIDUAL.  161 


excites  the  base  of  the  brain,  and  stirs  up  all  the  worst  elements 
of  our  nature,  so  that  many  persons  when  under  its  influence 
become  capable  of  committing  the  most  atrocious  crimes,  from 
which,  in  their  sober  moments,  they  would  shrink  with  disgust 
and  dismay. 

The  alcohol-drinker  has,  no  doubt,  his  heaven  also.  lie 
enjoys  a  certain  pleasure,  but  it  is  fluctuating  and  evanescent  in 
character,  and  altogether  sensual. 

The  paradise  of  the  opium-eater  is  refined  and  spiritual;  that 
of  the  alcohol-drinker  coarse,  sensual  and  devilish.  The  Moham¬ 
medan  paradise,  with  its  repose  and  beauty,  would  seem  to  be 
the  offspring  of  the  imagination  under  the  influence  of  opium  ; 
the  paradise  of  the  old  Scandinavian  creed,  with  its  coarse,  brutal 
pleasures,  mixed  occasionally  with  deeds  of  blood,  the  offspring 
of  the  imagination  under  the  influence  of  beer. 

The  alcohol-drinker  has  his  hell  also — a  hell  scorching  his 
veins  and  consuming  all  his  joys.  Terrible  as  is  the  hell  of  the 
opium-eater,  still  more  terrible  is  the  hell  of  the  alcohol-drinker. 
It  is  a  hell  of  lawless  passion,  and  of  wild  impulse  to  crime. 
A  hell  of  uncontrollable  thirst  for  drink — of  black  despair,  or 
of  brutal  lust.  Gaze  upon  the  poor  drunkard,  when  under  the 
power  of  that  terrible  madness,  delirium  tremens  !  What  hideous 
imaginings  !  What  foul  fiends  and  grim  spectres  torment  him  ! 
Scorpions  glare  upon  him,  with  jaws  like  sepulchres  and  eyes 
like  fire!  Fanged  serpents  hiss  at  him,  and  all  terrible  shapes, 
creatures  of  a  distorted  imagination,  gather  around  to  inflict 
upon  him  the  torments  of  the  damned. 

Such  then  is  the  action  of  alcohol  upon  its  victim,  withering 
every  moral  beauty,  exciting  lawless  passion,  and  impelling 
fiercely  to  crime,  and  by  this  means  ruining  the  souls  of  men. 

Now  it  is  plainly  contrary  to  the  will  and  law  of  God,  that 
His  creatures  should  thus  be  degraded,  ruined,  and  destroyed. 
“  He  hath  not  appointed  us  unto  wrath,  but  to  obtain  salvation.” 
“  A  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit.”  So  tested,  Ave  cannot  doubt  that 
upon  the  manufacture,  sale,  and  use  of  strong  drink  the  Eternal 
has  stamped  the  broad  seal  of  ilis  curse  ;  and  as  Ave  gaze  upon 
the  disease,  the  starvation,  the  crime,  and  the  wholesale  destruc¬ 
tion  Avhich  strong  drink  inflicts  upon  the  human  family,  avc  have 
evidence,  overwhelming  and  unmistakable,  that  its  manufacture, 
sale,  and  use,  constitute  a  system  alike  incompatible  with  tho 
character  of  God  and  the  redemption  of  mankind. 

14* 


162 


BACCHUS  DETHRONED. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TEETOTAI.ISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 

Prop.  YII. — “  That  teetotaJism  is  not  a  mere  matter  of  expedi¬ 
ency,  but  is  a  great  scientific  fact ,  based  on  chemistry ,  physiology, 
and,  Christian  morality 

1. — The  doctrine  of  expediency  referred  to  may  be  thus  stated: 
Though  it  is  not  necessary,  on  the  ground  of  personal  safety, 
for  me  to  abstain  from  intoxicating  liquor,  seeing  I  have  power  to 
control  my  appetite  and  to  regulate  the  quantity  I  take  within 
the  hounds  of  sobriety:  yet,  in  view  of  the  manifold  evils  arising 
from  the  abuse  of  these  liquors,  and  for  the  sake  of  those  who 
are  weak,  and  have  already  fallen,  or  are  in  imminent  danger  of 
falling,  I  will  abstain.  This  doctrine  is  founded  on  an  earnest 
conviction  that  the  evils  flowing  from  the  use  of  strong  drink  are 
so  great  and  terrible,  “  that  no  amount  of  good  that  can  be 
claimed  for  them  will  justify  the  conscientious  man  in  their 
use.” 

People  of  this  school  appear  to  think  that  “what  is  one  man’s 
food  is  another  man’s  poison  and  that  strong  drink,  though 
dangerous  to  some,  is  innocuous,  or  even  beneficial  to  others. 
Now  this  may  do  very  well  as  to  mental  food,  but  is  very  ques¬ 
tionable  in  application  to  physical  food.  It  is  true,  that  owing 
to  certain  very  rare  and  curious  idiosyncrasies,  certain  articles 
deemed  very  good  food  may  act  like  poisons  upon  a  few  indi¬ 
viduals.  We  have  heard,  for  instance,  of  a  lady  who  could  never 
eat  a  mution-chop  without  suffering  from  symptoms  of  poisoning  ; 
and  of  another  upon  whom  a  pear  had  the  same  effect.  These 
cases  are  altogether  exceptional,;  and  even  though  one  in  ten 
millions  may  be  poisoned  with  a  pear  or  a  mutton-chop,  yet  to 
the  remainder  they  are  very  wholesome.  This  is  never  the  case 
with  intoxicating  liquor,  which  is  not  food  at  all  in  any  proper 
sense  of  that  term,  but  is,  upon  all  constitutions,  poisonous  in 
its  action. 

Expediency,  indeed,  admits  the  fascinating  character  of  strong 


EXPERIENCE  IN  FAVOR  OF  ABSTINENCE.  163 


cl.ink,  but  has  no  idea  of  its  being  physiologically  injurious.  Its 
advocates  are  in  the  mental  condition  of  all  the  world,  at  the 
commencement  of  this  reform. 

2. — In  the  beginning,  the  practice  of  abstinence  necessarily 
partook  of  the  character  of  a  vast  experiment ,  in  which  the  expe¬ 
rimentalists  had  to  contend  against  fearful  odds.  Very  soon, 
however,  these  experimentalists,  feeling  their  way,  found  that 
the  inconvenience  and  danger  arising  from  personal  abstinence 
was  only  a  scarecrow,  for  under  the  trial  of  the  new  regimen 
their  health  and  strength  sensibly  improved,  so  that  they  were 
able  to  get  through  more  work  than  before,  and  that  too  with 
greater  case  and  comfort.  They  discovered  also  that  they  ate 
better,  slept  sounder,  and  enjoyed  life  better  than  before. 

This  is  indeed  the  uniform  experience  of  all  who  have  tried 
our  principles.  Take,  for  instance,  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Edward 
Baines,  M.  P.,  given  before  one  hundred  and  fifty  medical  gentle¬ 
men,  assembled  at  a  public  breakfast,  in  connection  with  the 
Annual  Meeting  of  the  British  Medical  Association,  held  in 
Leeds.  The  breakfast  came  off  at  the  Great  Northern  Station 
Hotel,  on  Thursday  morning,  July  29th,  1869.  Mr.  Baines 
said : 

“  I  myself,  a  long  time  ago,  for  the  sake  of  influencing  some  men  who 
I  saw  was  rapidly  going  clown  hill  to  destruction,  determined  to 
put  myself  in  the  position  to  give  them  unsuspected  advice  I  said,  I 
will  abstain  for  a  month,  and  see  how  it  answers  with  me;  and  finding  it 
did  answer,  1  went  on  for  another  montn,  and  then  for  another.  At  the 
expiration  of  fifteen  years  subsequently,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  testify 
that  during  the  whole  of  that  period  I  had  enjoyed  the  best  health, 
good  spirits,  and  a  great  capacity  for  work;  and  now,  seventeen  years 
later,  and  after  thirty-two  years  of  abstinence  frcm  intoxicating  drink.  I 
confiim  the  same  to  you  all.  I  testify  before  all  this  company,  that 
scarcely  any  man  can  have  had  more  uniform  vigorous  health  than  I 
have  had,  and  for  which  I  am  deeply  thankful,  during  the  whole  of  the 
period  I  have  named,  and  I  have  been  a  tolerably  hard  worker  too. 
And  when  I  tell  you  that  I  went  to  bed  about  four  o’clock  on  the  morn¬ 
ing  before  last,  coming  out  of  the  House  of  Commons  after  a  great 
many  hours’  sitting  there,  you  will  see  that  we  have  a  good  deal  of  hard 
work  there;  but  I  verily  believe  that.  I  have  been  able  to  do  more  than 
I  should  have  been  able  to  do,  if  I  bad  not  been  a  total  abstainer." 

This  valuable  testimony,  and  we  could  quote  scores  like  it, 
is  exactly  to  the  point. 

The  successful  issue  of  such  experiments  not  only  opened  tho 


164  TEETOTALISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 

eyes  of  those  who  were  the  subjects  of  them,  but  led  others  to 
institute  farther  inquiries.  Finally,  the  concurrent  testimony 
of  all  abstainers  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  of  all  who  had 
tried  our  principles  for  a  limited  time  for  a  special  purpose, 
under  some  of  the  most  trying  circumstances  in  which  man  can 
be  placed,  became  quite  sufficient  with  thoughtful  persons,  to 
overthrow  the  old  and  cherished  notions  pertaining  to  the  use  of 
intoxicating  liquor. 

These  important  lessons  and  the  controversies  to  which  the 
agitation  gave  rise,  opened  the  eyes  of  scientific  men,  and  they 
in  turn  began  to  examine  the  chemical  composition  of  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquor,  and  to  trace  their  physiological  action.  But  as  Dr. 
Munroe,  F.  L.  S.,  of  Hull,  says: — “  Ilad  it  not  been  for  the  suc¬ 
cessful  labors  of  these  moral  giants  in  the  great  cause  of  temper¬ 
ance,  presenting  to  the  world,  in  their  own  personal  experiences, 
many  new  and  astounding  physiological  facts,  men  of  science 
would  probably  never  have  had  their  attention  drawn  to  the 
question.”  What  has  been  the  result?  Why,  every  step  taken, 
and  almost  every  experiment  performed,  have  gone  to  prove 
that  here  science  and  experience  harmonize.  The  deductions 
of  the  former  fully  confirm  the  teachings  of  the  latter,  and  now 
teetotalism  has  become  a  great  scientific  fact.  So  having  first 
principles  we  advance  to  higher  and  firmer  ground.  Wo  do 
not  indeed  quarrel  with  those  who  become  teetotalers  upon  the 
ground  of  expediency.  We  give  them  the  right-hand  of  fellow¬ 
ship,  and  also  seek  to  instruct  them  further  and  to  lead  them 
from  abstinence  based  on  expediency  to  abstinence  based  on 
Science. 

Our  proposition  states:  “That  teetotalism  is  based  upon 
Chemistry .” 

The  substance  with  which  teetotalism  has  most  to  do,  is 
by  teaching  abstinence  from  it  as  a  chemical  product.  Fermen¬ 
tation  is  a  chemical  process.  Alcohol  is  a  product  of  vinous  fer¬ 
mentation,  it  is  therefore  a  chemical  product.  Experience  has 
clearly  revealed  that  it  is  a  product  at  war  with  the  processes  of 
that  beautiful  vital  chemistry  going  on  within  the  laboratory  of 
the  human  body. 

Chemistry  has  done  more  for  teetotalism  than  some  people 
imagine.  In  the  first  place,  it  has  revealed  the  presence  and 
proved  the  identity  of  the  intoxicating  principle  of  strong  drinks  ; 
discovering  to  us  its  origin  and  hiding-place.  Had  it  not  been  for 


A  CHEMICAL  PRODUCT  AND  PHYSICAL  POISON.  165 


this  we  should  still  have  been  ignorant  of  the  real  foe  that 
destroyed  us. 

Chemistry  has  investigated  its  composition  and  properties, 
and  determined  its  real  position  in  the  materia  alimeniaria  and 
materia  rnedica ,  showing  that  it  ought  to  be  entirely  excluded 
from  the  former,  and  to  be  used  in  the  latter  principally  for  the 
carrying  on  of  certain  delicate  pharmaceutical  processes. 

Chemistry  has  determined  that  the  whole  class  of  intoxicating 
liquors  strongly  resemble  each  other  in  their  physical  properties, 
that  they  all  alike  owe  their  great  popularity  and  power  to 
fascinate  to  this  deadly  agent — alcohol ,  and  differ  merely  in 
their  proportion  of  alcohol,  water,  coloring  matter,  and  flavors. 

lhat  this  chemistry,  which  in  its  infancy,  and  wielding  its 
tremendous  powers,  brought  disaster  and  death  by  revealing  the 
presence  of  an  unseen  enemy,  and  the  processes  whereby  he  could 
be  evoked  in  his  most  deadly  and  concentrated  form,  has  in  its 
maturer  age  rendered  the  cause  of  temperance  signal  service,  in 
discovering  to  us  its  composition  and  properties,  and  dispersing 
those  numerous  fallacies  engendered  of  ignorance  and  appetite. 

3. — Our  proposition  states,  “  that  teetotalism  is  based  upon 
Physiology .” 

Ihis  science  has  ransacked  the  human  body  in  search  of  in¬ 
formation  as  to  the  action  of  alcohol  upon  animal  organisms. 
It  has  followed  alcohol  into  its  innermost  recesses,  and  traced 
its  doings  in  the  cellular  structure  and  ultimate  tissues;  and 
after  performing  innumerable  experiments  both  upon  man  and 
beast,  bird  and  reptile  ;  and  having  thereby  made  certain  dis¬ 
coveries  of  a  most  important  character,  it  comes  forth  to  make 
them  known ;  and  notwithstanding  conflicting  theories,  the 
following  are  the  conclusions  at  which  all  experimentalists  and 
men  of  science  have  arrived. 

(1.)  That  as  a  diet,  alcohol  is  not  only  valueless,  but  most 
dangerous  and  injurious.  (2.)  That  its  action  upon  the  body  is 
uniformly  that  of  a  poison.  (3.)  That  the  direction  of  this  action 
is  always  the  same,  the  intensity  of  the  action  only  being  regu¬ 
lated  by  the  amount  consumed.  (4.)  That  it  is  not  food  in  any 
usual  sense,  as  nourishing  the  structures,  or  increasing  the  tem¬ 
perature  of  the  body. 

Chemistry  and  physiology  are  the  bases  of  hygiene ,  a  science 
which  treats  of  the  laws  that  govern  the  animal  economy  in 
relation  to  its  own  physiological  condition,  and  of  the  physical 


1G6  TEETOTALISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 


world  of  which  it  forms  a  part.  It  seeks  to  investigate  the 
influence  of  laws,  institutions,  habits,  climate,  etc.,  upon  tho 
human  constitution.  It  points  out  how  disease  may  be  pre¬ 
vented,  health  and  long  life  secured.  This  is  the  region  of 
preventive  medicine,  in  which  medical  science  (so  called)  has 
achieved  her  noblest  triumphs.  In  this  department  she  has 
ssown  that  disease  arises  from  the  violation  of  nature’s  laws; 
from  a  gross  neglect  of  the  conditions  of  healthy  life.  She  has 
demonstrated  that  just  in  proportion  as  these  laws  and  conditions 
are  observed,  disease  diminishes  and  the  chances  of  long  life  .are 
increased.  She  has  shown  that  sunshine,  fresh  air,  pure  water, 
cleanliness,  and  wholesome  diet,  temperate  living,  good  drainage, 
and  mental  and  physical  exercise,  are  essential  to  healthy  life, 
and  that  (within  certain  limits)  the  death-rate  is  proportioned  to 
our  neglect  or  observance  of  these  conditions — proving  that 
disease  is  nature’s  penalty  for  the  violation  of  her  laws. 

A  learned  writer  upon  this  science  says: — “  One  of  the  chief 
sources  of  the  wealth  and  power  of  states  is  the  number  of  their 
well-governed  and  well-conditioned  inhabitants.  Hence  it  should 
be  the  object  of  statesmen  to  improve  that  moral  and  physical 
condition  which  is  favorable  to  the  regular,  but  not  unnatural 
increase  of  a  sound  population.  ....... 

A  knowledge  of  hygiene  is  of  high  importance  to  political 
economy,  a  knowledge  not  ministering  to  mere  theory — to  *  Day¬ 
dreams’  of  inexperienced  legislators;  but  to  that  cautious  policy 
that  seeks  no  footing  where  there  are  no  facts.”  (Dr.  Belenaye, 
on  Ihjij.ened)  The  temperance  movement  is  a  great  sanitary- and 
hygienic  question. 

Intemperance,  and  the  (so  called)  moderate  use  of  intoxicating 
liquor,  predisposes  the  body  to  the  attacks  of  disease,  and  tends 
to  shorten  the  term  of  human  existence.  Moderate  drinkers, 
equally  with  drunkards,  live  every  day  in  open  violation  of  tho 
laws  of  health,  and  how  can  they  escape  tho  penalty?  Any 
government  allowing  facilities  for  drinking  to  exist,  or  encourag¬ 
ing  them  for  the  sake  of  revenue,  is  therefore  guilty  of  violating 
a  fundamental  principle  of  public  hygiene!  and.  instead  of 
seeking  to  inprove  the  moral  and  physical  condition  of  the 
people,  really  adopts  the  most  potent  means  to  corrupt  and 
degrade  them,  and  thus  to  undermine  tho  greatness  and  strength 
of  the  nation. 

The  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  not  only  in  itself  a  gross  phy- 


DRINKING  OPPOSED  TO  SANITARY  REFORM.  1G7 


Biological  blunder,  but  it  also  leads  to  the  violation  of  every 
other  condition  of  healthy  life.  It  leads  to  drunkenness,  this  to 
neglect  of  personal  cleanliness  ;  then  the  poverty  it  occasions 
prevents  the  drunkard  from  properly  housing  and  feeding  his 
family,  and  instead  of  selecting  a  suitable  residence  in  an  airy 
and  salubrious  neighborhood,  he  must  needs  fix  his  quarters  in 
some  dismal  court,  or  dirty  alley,  where  dilapidated  houses 
afford  scanty  accommodation,  and  where  all  sense  of  decency  is 
thoroughly  erased.  Here,  screened  from  public  gaze,  and  con¬ 
sorting  with  other  miserable  and  degraded  beings,  he  indulges 
his  brutalizing  propensities  for  strong  drink,  and  sinks  to  deeper 
misery. 

Notwithstanding  our  boasted  progress  in  sanitary  science — 
notwithstanding  an  improved  drainage  system,  and  an  abundant 
supply  of  pure  water  to  our  large  towns,  the  death-rate  is  upon 
the  increase.  After  thirty  years  of  sanitary  labor  and  general 
“  progress,”  instead  of  the  death-rate  being  diminished,  it  is 
higher  than  when  sanitary  reform  was  first  heard  of.  In 
referring  to  the  Registrar  General’s  Returns,  we  find  that  the 
present  death-rate  is  higher  by  1  per  10U0  than  it  was  thirty 
years  ago  !  It  is  also  a  deplorable  fact,  that  the  three  large 
towns  of  Liverpool,  Glasgow  and  Manchester,  possessing  the 
finest  water  supply,  not  only  exhibit  the  most  drunkenness,  but 
also  show  the  highest  rate  of  mortality  !  Dr.  Farre  does  not 
appear  to  perceive  the  real  cause  of  this,  but  attributes  it  to  a 
variety  of  causes,  which  no  doubt  are  accessory,  but  certainly 
not  the  main  cause.  In  his  report  for  one  quarter  of  1869,  he 
states : 

“The  high  rate  of  mortality  in  Glasgow  is  partly  due  to  epidemic 
and  other  diseases,  to  which  children  succumbed  in  undue  proportion 
to  the  rest  of  the  population.  While  protection  against  the  diffusion  of 
cholera  poison  by  means  of  an  impure  water  supply  has  been  secured  in 
this  city,  the  importance  of  aiming  at  immunity  from  other  generating 
elements  of  disease  should  not  be  lost  sight  of.  Dr.  Gairdner 

reports  that  the. true  cause  of  the  excessive  liability  of  this  city  to  high 
tides  of  disease  and  death  are  to  be  sought  chiefly  in  the  loio  standard 
oj  domestic  comfort,  in  overcrowding ,  general  squalor,  and  physical  dejra- 
datior ,®  which  are  the  unhappy  characteristics  of  a  large  section  of  the 
population.  The  city  of  Manchester,  which  is  also  supplied  with  an 
abundance  of  pure  water,  shows  a  high  rate  of  mortality,  but  it  is  con¬ 
siderably  lower  than  the  Scottish  city.  Why  cannot  the  administrative 

•  These  are  simple  ejects — never  seen  where  the  trafSc  is  banished. 


1G8  TEETOTALISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT* 

abilities,  which  have  been  so  successful  in  commanding  a  pure  water 
supply,  be  as  successfully  applied,  not  only  in  the  demolition  of  old 
tenements,  but  in  the  erection  ot  new  constructions,  and  improved  house 
accommodation  lor  the  poorer  classes,  and  also  in  enforcing  the  law  against 
overcrowding.” 

There  is  a  question  far  more  important  than  that  contained 
in  these  concluding  words,  namely  : — Why  cannot  the  ad¬ 
ministrative  abilities  use  their  influence  to  secure  the  sup¬ 
pression  of  the  drink  nuisance — the  demolition  of  the  whisky 
shops f  If  they  accomplish  this,  the  rest  would  soon  follow. 
Sobriety  would  take  the  place  of  drunkenness,  and  thrift  of 
wasteful  expenditure.  A  speedy  and  striking  improvement 
would  be  seen  in  the  habits  of  the  people.  They  would  be  better 
clothed  and  fed,  and  no  longer  contented  to  herd  together  like  the 
brute  creation  ;  they  would  seek  better  house  accommodation  and 
find  it.  Building  Societies  would  be  more  extensively  patronized  ; 
larger  capital  would  be  invested  in  building  suitable  houses  for 
the  working-classes  5  the  low  courts  and  purlieus  of  our  large 
towns,  which  are  now  centres  of  contagion  and  hot-beds  of  vice 
and  disease,  would  be  swept  away  wholesale  5  broad  airy  streets 
and  commodious  houses  would  take  their  place,  and  whole  sub¬ 
urbs  and  districts  of  houses  and  gardens  for  the  working-classes 
would  adorn  our  large  towns.  With  this  improvement  in  the 
habits  and  abodes  of  the  working-classes,  disease  would  abate, 
the  mortality  lists  would  sink,  and  the  average  duration  of  life 
be  greatly  extended. 

The  prosperity  of  a  nation  largely  depends  upon  the  average 
duration  of  life  among  the  people,  for  “life  is  labor .”  Where 
the  mortality  lists  are  high,  and  the  average  of  life  low,  certain 
causes  must  be  in  operation  tending  to  undermine  that  nation’s 
strength  and  prosperity.  Says  Belenaye  : 

“Since  it  is  certain  that  every  stage  of  human  existence  has  a  pecu¬ 
liar  office  assigned  to  it,  as  well  as  every  instant  a  duty,  it  is  highly 
important  that  man  should  attain  a  certain  degree  of  senility.  Should 
the  human  being  die  in  infancy,  or  childhood,  the  loss  to  the  state 
would  not  be  great;  but  later,  it  is  far  otherwise.  The  business  of 
adolescence  is  to  acquire  knowledge  by  example,  and  by  memory;  of 
the  adult  to  apply  this  information;  and  later,  to  invent.  At  fifty, 
men  begin  to  perfect  and  classify  knowledge;  to  instruct  and  guide  their 
fellow-creatures.  .Now,  it  is  clear  that  a  state  cannot  advance  so  rapidly 
in  civilization,  where  the  average  duration  of  life  is  short;  and  will  be 
great  in  proportion  to  the  approach  of  the  majority  of  its  subjects  to 


TEETOTALISM  FAVORS  SANITARY  PROGRESS.  169 

sixty-five — an  age  that  allows  of  acquisition,  application,  invention,  and 
arrangement  of  the  stores  of  knowledge.  We  must  venture  to  repeat, 
that  a  man  dying  at  eighteen  or  twenty,  has  only  lived  to  consume  the 
resources  of  society,  and  can  leave  nothing  behind  him  but  a  legacy  of 
poignant  regret.  If  he  has  lived  till  he  has  applied  and  invented,  it  is  of 
the  highest  importance  he  should  be  allowed  time  to  mature  and  con¬ 
solidate  what,  as  his  own  acquisition,  he  best  understands.  .  .  • 

We  must  set  a  still  greater  value  upon  longevity,  if  we  add  to  what  has 
been  stated,  the  sagacious  remark  of  an  eminent  writer — that  the  greater 
mortality  in  Southern  climates  before  the  age  of  thirty,  is  the  reason 
that  Northern  nations  have  invariably  conquered  those  of  the  South.” 

On  Hygiene. 

Now  to  greatly  increase  the  average  duration  of  life  in  our 
country,  and  thereby  promote  natural  prosperity  and  vigor, 
our  government  cannot  do  better  than  pass,  as  a  great  Sanitary 
Act,  a  prohibitory  liquor-law.  In  simple  fact,  the  temperance 
enterprise  is  the  greatest  sanitary  reform  that  ever  took  place  in 
any  age  or  nation  ;  and  public  spirited  teetotalers  are  among  the 
greatest  of  sanitary  reformers.  Wherever  our  principles  have 
been  adopted  and  acted  upon,  a  great  and  visible  improvement 
has  takfen  place  in  the  social  state  and  moral  habits  of  the  people. 
As  a  rule,  abstainers  quickly  remove  from  amid  the  squalor  and 
■wretchedness  in  which  before  they  seemed  to  wallow,  and  in 
consequence,  become  healthier  and  live  longer.  As  a  rule,  they 
pay  considerable  attention  to  elementary  physiology  and  do¬ 
mestic  medicine,  and  as  a  result,  give  doctors  very  little  trouble, 
and  enjoy  a  wonderful  immunity  from  sickness  and  disease. — 
See  chap.  in. 

4. — Our  proposition  lastly  states,  “  that  teetotalism  is  based 
on  Christian  morality,”  that  is,  upon  the  science  of  ethics  of 
which  Christianity  contains  the  clearest,  fullest,  and  most  perfect 
development. 

Moral  science,  in  its  narrowest  sense,  treats  of  the  equitable 
relations  of  men — of  those  duties  we  owe  each  other.  In  its 
broadest  acceptation,  it  includes  the  duties  man  owes  to  himself, 
and  to  the  Divine  author  of  his  being. 

(1.)  Christian  Morality  seeks  to  regulate  the  moral  actions  of 
men  by  regulating  their  hearts.  It  lays  down  the  principle  that 
moral  perversion  begins  in  the  heart,  and  that  we  must  seek  to 
regulate  the  motives,  desires  and  thoughts,  according  to  the 
principles  of  pure  reason  and  love.  “Blessed  arc  the  pure  in 
heart.”  “  The  light  of  the  body  is  the  eye :  if,  therefore,  thine  eye 
15 


170  TEETOTALISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 

be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light.  But  if  thine  eye 
be  evil,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  darkness.”  “Not  that 
which  goeth  into  the  mouth  defileth  a  man ;  but  that  which 
cometh  out  of  the  mouth,  this  defileth  a  man.”  “A  good  man 
out  of  the  good  treasure  of  his  heart  bringeth  forth  that  which 
is  good:  and  an.  evil  man  out  of  the  evil  treasure  of  his  heart 
bringeth  forth  that  which  is  evil.”  Now  the  use  of  intoxicatin'* 
liquors  is  antagonistic  to  all  this.  It  pollutes  the  heart.  It 
weakens  self-denial,  reason,  and  conscience,  and  stirs  up  every 
evil  and  self-regarding  passion  ;  and  out  of  such  hearts  proceed 
uevil  thoughts,  adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts,  covetous¬ 
ness,  wickedness,  deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blasphemy, 
pride,  foolishness,”  and  all  kinds  of  abominations.  Even  what  is 
termed  moderate  drinking  is  antagonistic  to  this  purity  of  heart. 
A  single  glass  is  often  sufficient  to  dull  the  finer  sensibilities  of 
the  soul,  and  to  obscure  the  mental  and  moral  powers,  and  so 
weaken  the  supremacy  of  reason  over  those  animal  passions  and 
impulses  which  it  is  our  duty  to  keep  in  proper  restraint. 

leetotalism,  on  the  contrary,  is  in  beautiful  harmony  with  this' 
purity  of  heart,  and  repudiates  the  most  fruitful  source  of  de¬ 
pravity  and  crime.  The  man  who  abstains,  is  better  able  to 
control  his  thoughts  and  passions,  than  the  man  who  drinks, 
however  moderately. 

(2.)  The  moral  system  of  the  A reio  Testament  calls  us  from  low 
and  sensual  pursuits  and  enjoyments  to  the  pure  and  lofty 
delights  that  flow  from  the  exercise  of  the  moral  and  intellectual 
powers.  “  Set  your  affections  on  things  above.”  There  must  be 
mental  and  moral  exaltation.  The  mind  must  be  occupied  in 
the  contemplation  of  grand  truths,  for  which  it  has  a  capacity, 
and  the  affections  must  be  placed  upon  virtuous  things.  A  bliss 
lofty  and  pure,  a  serenity  sweet  and  enduring,  are  the  fruits  of 
r  exercising  our  mental  powers  upon  noble  and  worthy  objects. 
AVe  then  “lay  up  for  ourselves  treasures  in  heaven,”  incorrupt¬ 
ible  and  fadeless. 

Abstinence  is  certainly  favorable  to  this  exaltation  of  the 
rational  and  moral  powers;  with  clearer  minds  and  uncorrupted 
hearts  we  can  go  forth  and  contemplate  the  sublime  verities  of 
religion. 

(3.)  Christian  morality  inculcates  the  cultivation  and  practice 
of  the  milder  virtues.  It  is  antagonistic  to  the  war-spirit,  and 
to  those  wild  and  turbulent  passions  that  go  to  form  it.  Chris- 


TEETOTALTSM  FAVORS  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS.  171 


tian  morality  breathes  softness  and  repose.  “Blessed  are  the 
peace -makers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  o£  God.” 
“  Be  kindly  affectionate  one  to  another,  with  brotherly  love.” 
“  The  fruit  of  the  spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering.  gentle¬ 
ness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance:  against  such  there 
is  no  law.” 

Let  us  strive  to  picture  to  ourselves  two  different  states  of 
society.  The  one  founded  upon  the  cultivation  and  practice 
of  the  (so  called)  heroic  virtues,  the  other  upon  the  cultivation 
and  expression  of  those  soft  and  gentle  virtues  enjoined  by 
Christianity. 

In  the  first,  displays  of  physical  courage  and  exhibitions  of 
ambition  and  revenge  stand  out.  War  is  accounted  the  noblest 
employment,  and  the  profession  of  arms  the  most  honorable. 
Progress  in  peaceful  arts  and  useful  industries  receives  a  con¬ 
tinual  check,  and  the  resources  of  the  nation  become  exhausted 
in  maintaining  war.  This  spirit  pervading  the  great  mass  of  the 
people,  we  see  its  manifestation  still  further  in  local  feuds,  and 
thus  strife  and  tumult  form  the  leading  features  of  this  social 
state. 

In  the  latter  state  of  society,  founded  upon  the  cultivation  and 
expression  of  the  softer  and  milder  virtues,  displays  of  moral 
courage  and  heroism,  and  all  the  kindly  courtesies  and  charities 
of  life  are  daily  seen  Peace  and  good-will  prevailing,  no  check 
is  offered  to  the  peoples’  progress  in  the  beautiful  arts  and  useful 
industries.  Hence  peace,  love,  and  progress,  are  the  leading 
features  of  this  social  state. 

Now,  intoxicating  liquors  are  certainly  more  in  keeping  with 
the  former  picture  than  the  latter,  since  strife,  crime  and  the 
ebullition  of  violent  passions  are  the  most  frequent  sequences  of 
their  use.  Abstinence,  on  the  other  hand,  is  more  in  harmony 
with  the  latter.  “  Peace  on  earth,  and  good-will  toward  men,” 
is  our  motto,  and  whilst  we  are  engaged  in  spreading  abroad  the 
knowledge  of  true  temperance,  we  arc  also  aiding  the  march  of 
progress,  and  the  extension  of  peace  and  brotherly  kindness 
among  the  nations. 

(4.)  Christian  morality  calls  us  to  the  exercise  of  a  noble  and 
broad-hearted  philanthropy.  “Pure  religion,  and  undefiled  before 
God  and  the  father,  is  this,  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in 
their  affliction,  and  to  keep  unspotted  from  the  world.”  “  Hereby 
perceive  we  the  love  of  God,  because  He  laid  down  Ilis  life  for 


172  TEETOTALISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 

us;  and  we  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren.” 
“Let  us  not  love  in  word,  neither  in  tongue;  but  in  deed  and  in 
truth.''  4,AVe  are  to  4  honor  all  men,’  to  love  the  brotherhood.” 
We  are  even  to  “  love  our  enemies,  to  bless  them  that  curse  us, 
to  do  good  to  them  that  hate  us,  and  to  pray  for  them  which 
despitefully  use  us  and  persecute  us,  that  we  may  be  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  our  Father  which  is  in  heaven  :  For  lie  maketh  Ills  sun 
to  rise  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just 
and  on  the  unjust.”  The  second  great  commandment  of  the  law 
is,  44  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. ”  The  foundations 
of  this  duty,  are  the  universal  Fatherhood  of  God,  and  the  uni¬ 
versal  brotherhood  of  man.  44  GocL  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men.”  AY  ho  is  my  neighbor?  or  my  brother?  This 
question  has  received  its  solution  in  that  beautiful  and  touching 
parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  Says  Dr.  Nott: — 44  It  is  not  to 
the  narrow  circle  of  kindred  and  of  caste  that  the  charities  of 
man's  common  brotherhood  are  confined.  The  men  around  you 
are  your  brethren, — bone  of  your  bone — flesh  of  your  flesh.  God 
hath  not  only  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  to  dwell  upon  the 
earth,  but  lie  hath  also  bound  together,  by  ties  of  reciprocal 
dependence,  the  different  classes  of  men  that  compose  the 
nations.” 

Our  Lord’s  life  was  a  grand  and  beautiful  expression  of  this 
duty  of  practical  benevolence.  44  AVho  went  about  doing  good, 
for  God  was  with  Him  ”  No  higher  encomium  than  this  could 
be  passed  upon  him.  Ilis  favors  were  bestowed  liberally  upon 
all,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  Jew  and  Samaritan,  Canaanite 
or  Greek.  He  stops  not  to  inquire  as  to  their  nationality,  or 
their  religion,  ere  he  stoops  to  relieve,  instruct,  and  comfort 
them.  The  haughty  priest  and  the  pedantic  scribe  may  turn 
away  contemptuously,  and  pass  by  on  the  other  side,  but  44  the 
good  Samaritan,”  full  of  generous  sympathies,  stays  to  comfort 
and  to  bless. 

The  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  plainly  and  essentially  opposed 
to  this  spirit  of  love,  and  to  its  efficient  exercise.  In  fact,  the 
use  of  strong  drink  will  even  obliterate  the  natural  affections.  It 
will  make  the  woman  forget  her  sucking-child,  so  that  she  shall 
not  have  compassion  upon  the  son  of  her  womb;  whilst  the  con¬ 
stitutionally  generous  hearted  shall  be  transformed  into  hardened 
villains  and  murderers.  Drink,  like  adultery,  hardens  all  with¬ 
in,  and  petrilies  the  feelings. 


AN  UNSECTARIAN  MOVEMENT.  173 

Our  movement  and  principle,  on  the  contrary,  are  in  beautiful 
harmony  with  that  practical  spirit  of  benevolence  which  Chris¬ 
tian  morality  inculcates.  It  may,  indeed,  be  described  as  a  grand 
unsectarian  movement  for  promoting  the  physical,  moral  and 
social  well  being  of  the  people.  Here  we  may  observe,  that  while 
teetotalism  is  in  harmony  with  Christianity,  it  is  quite  unsectarian. 
It  is  something  apart  from  sects  and  creeds.  A  man  is  a  drunk¬ 
ard,  .or  in  danger  of  becoming  one,  by  yielding  to  the  drinking, 
usages  that  surround  him.  This  is  a  sufficient  claim  upon  us. 
We  stop  not  to  inquire  of  his  creed  or  nation,  but  sinking  the  sect 
and  the  nation  in  the  man,  we  rush  forth  to  save  him.  When 
the  great  and  good  Father  Mathew  was  in  Belfast,  and  crowds 
of  people  were  pressing  upon  him  to  take  the  pledge  and  receive 
his  blessing,  on  Orangeman  came  up,  and  kneeling  down,  the  good 
Father  placed  his  hand  upon  his  head  and  blessed  him.  The 
Orangeman  said  to  him,  “Why,  here,  Father  Mathew,  am  I,  a  red- 
hot  Orange  man,  and  yet  I  consent  to  take  the  pledge,  and  receive 
a  blessing  at  your  hands.”  The  good  Father  laconically  replied  - 
“ 1  don’t  care  if  you  are  a  Ze???o?iman.”  This  is  the  very  language 
of  teetotalism.  It  is  sufficient  that  you  are  a  man  and  a  brother. 

(5.)  Another  grand  and  distinctive  feature  of  Christian  moral¬ 
ity  is  the  doctrine  of  self-abnegation  for  the  good  of  others — the 
going  out  of  ourselves,  and  away  from  ourselves,  as  it  were, 
that  we  may  benefit  other  people. 

Self-sacrifice  is,  indeed,  a  beautiful  principle.  We  witness  its 
expression  in  the  mother  shielding,  at  the  risk  of  life,  her  babe 
from  harm.  We  see  it  in  the  patriot,  bleeding  for  his  country’s 
safety.  We  see  it  in  the  philanthropist,  exposing  life  amid  scenes 
of  terrible  suffering  and  disease,  in  order  to  bless  and  rescue  his 
fellow-men.  Now,  he  who  exemplifies  Christian  .morality  com¬ 
bines  the  qualities  both  of  the  patriot  and  philanthropist,  but  he 
is  more  inclined  to  look  at  man  in  his  individual  than  in  his 
collective  capacity.  There  is  something  imposing  and  attractive, 
and  even  flattering  to  our  vanity,  in  being  called  upon  to  suffer  tor 
the  good  of  a  Nation,  or  any  large  class;  and  we  are  apt  to  forget 
the  individual  in  the  community  to  which  he  belongs.  But  ho 
who  practically  conforms  to  the  requirements  of  Christian 
morality,  whilst  ever  ready  to  act  the  part  of  the  patriot  or 
.philanthropist,  is  also  prepared  to  deny  himself,  and,  if  needs  be, 
to  suffer  for  the  individual.  ‘‘We  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives 
for  the  brethren.”  “If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
15* 


174 


TEETOTALISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 


deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me.”  “It is. good 
neither  to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  anything  whereby  thy 
brother  stumbleth,  or  is  offended,  or  is  made  weak.”  “  None  of 
us  liveth  to  himself \  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself.” 

Our  principles  are  in  unison  with  this  doctrine,  because 
opposed  to  personal  indulgence  and  selfish  gratification,  especially 
■u  hen  these  are  of  a  dangerous  character,  and  likely  to  prove  a 
snare  and  a  temptation  to  others.  The  cry  comes  to  us  as  a 
command  “  Destroy  not  thou  him  with  thy  drink  for  whom 
Christ  died.”  Temperance  reformers  are  also  willing  to  toil, 
hand  and  brain,  to  rescue  their  fellow-men,  even  though  obloquy 
and  persecution  assail  them. 


(6.)  I  he  ethics  of  the  New  Testament  inculcates  the  practice 
of  true  Temperance,  including  Abstinence. 

.  .  And  beside  this,  giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your  faith 
viitue;  and  to  virtue,  knowledge;  and  to  knowledge,  temper¬ 
ance.”  2  Peter,  i.  5,  6. 

fe.iys  Dr.  Adam  Ciarke  on  this  passage: — u  Temperance:  A 
piopei  and  limited  use  of  all  earthly  enjoyments,  keeping  every 
sense  under  proper  restraint,  and  never  permitting  the  "animal 
part  to  subjugate  the  rational.” 

And  as  he  (Paul)  reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance, 
and  a  judgment  to  come.”  Acts  xxiv.  25. 

llie  Word  enkraleia ,  here  translated  temperance,  signifies  self- 
£°' ei nment,  and  has  certainly  in  this  connection  an  abstinent 
signification.  Says  Dr.  A.  Clarke  “  This  discourse  of  St.  Paul 
was  most  solemnly  and  pointedly  adapted  to  the  state  of  the 
person  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Felix  was  tyrannous  and  op¬ 
pressive  in  his  government ;  lived  under  the  power  of  avarice  and 
unbridled  appetites;  and  his  incontinence,  intemperance,  and 
injustice,  appear  fully  in  depriving  the  king  of  Einesa  of  his 
wife,  and  in  his  conduct  toward  St.  Paul,  and  the  motives  by 
which  that  conduct  was  regulated.  And  as  to  Drusilla,  who  had 
forsaken  the  husband  of  her  youth,  and  forgotten  the  covenant 
of  her  God,  and  become  the  willing  companion  of  this  bad  man, 
she  was  worthy  of  the  strongest  reprehension  ;  and  Paul’s  rea¬ 
soning  on  righteousness ,  temperance ,  and  judgment,  was  not  less 
applicable  to  her  than  to  her  unprincipled  paramour.” 

1  e m pcrance  here  has  evident  reference  to  adultery,  in  w’hich 
Loth  l’clix  and  Drusilla  were  living,  and  enjoins  upon  them  self- 
restraint  in  that  respect,  that  is,  abstinence. 


TRUE  TEMPERANCE.  175 

“  And  every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temperate  in 
all  things.”  1  Cor.  ix.  25. 

“  All  those  who  contended  in  these  exercises,”  says  Dr.  A. 
Clarke,  “  went  through  a  long  state  and  series  of  painful  prepar¬ 
ations.  To  this  exact  discipline  Epictetus  refers,  (I.  Cap.  35.) 
‘Do  you  wish  to  gain  the  prize  at  the  Olympic  games?  Consider 
the  requisite  preparations  and  the  consequences:  You  must 
observe  a  strict  regimen ;  must  live  on  food  which  you  dislike ; 
you  must  abstain  from  all  delicacies ;  must  exercise  yourself  at 
the  necessary  and  prescribed  times  both  in  heat  and  6old ;  you 
must  drink  nothing  cooling;  take  no  wine  as  formerly;  in  a 
word,  you  must  put  yourself  under  the  directions  of  a  pugilist , 
as  you  would  under  those  of  a  physician,  and  afterwards  enter 
the  lists/  ” 

Qui  studit  optat.um  cursu  contingere  metam 

Multa  tulit  fecitque  puer:  Sudavit  et  alsit  ; 

Abstinint  Venere  et  Baccho. 

( Horace ,  De  Arte  Poet.,  ver.  412.) 

A  youth  who  hopes  the  Olympic  prize  to  gain, 

All  arts  must  try,  and  every  toil  sustain; 

Th'  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  must  often  prove; 

And  shun  the  weakening  joys  of  wine  and  love. 

Francis. 

These  quotations  show  the  propriety  of  the  apostle’s  words: 
“Every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery,  is  temperate^  or  conti¬ 
nent ,  in  all  things.” 

“  True  Temperance  is  the  proper  use  of  good  things ;  total 
abstinence  from  bad  things.”  (Dr.  Lees.)  “Moderation”  is  akin 
to  temperance,  it  is  the  habit  of  restrained  indulgence.  Temper¬ 
ance  designates  the  act  of  a  person  in  reference  to  a  certain 
thing;  Moderation  the  habit  formed  from  the  frequent  repetition 
of  the  act. 

This  definition  has  not  been  coined  to  suit  the  ideas  of  tee¬ 
totalers.  It  is  very  ancient.  Socrates  says: — “  lie  who  knows 
what  is  good  and  chooses  it,  who  knows  what  is  had  and  avoids 
it,  is  learned  and  temperate.”  Hobbes  says: — “Temperance  is 
the  habit  by  which  we  abstain  from  all  things  that  tend  to  our 
destruction  ;  Intemperance  the  contrary  vice.” 

Now  as  applied  to  eating  and  drinking,  temperance  is  the 
moderate  use  of  those  elements  of  diet  that  are  good,  useful, 
or  necessary,  but  abstinence  from  all  those  agents  that  injure. 


176  TEETOTALISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 

If  I  take  bread,  flesh,  vegetables,  water,  cocoa,  tea,  etc.,  in  quan¬ 
tity  sufficient  to  supply  the  natural  demands  of  my  body,  I  am 
temperate  in  the  use  of  these  things  ;  but  if  I  take  more  than 
this,  I  am  intemperate.  Contrariwise,  if  I  take  ever  so  small  a 
quantity  of  putrid  meat,  or  diseased  potato,  or  of  arsenic,  I  take 
what  is  injurious  in  quality ,  and  am,  therefore,  intemperate. 

The  whole  question  of  teetotalism  hangs  here.  If  intoxicating 
liquors  are  good  and  useful  as  beverages,  then  to  use  them 
moderately  is  to  be  temperate.  If,  however,  they  are  bad  or 
pernicious ,  then  moderation,  as  applied  to  their  use,  is  a  mis¬ 
nomer,  for  the  only  temperance  is  abstinence.  Now  we  have 
already  shown  (Chapters  it.  and  in.),  that  far  from  being  good 
creatures  of  God,  these  liquors  are  evil  creatures  of  man’s  own 
invention,  and  that,  however  fascinating  they  may  be  in  ap¬ 
pearance,  and  however  delicious  to  a  depraved  taste,  they  are 
really  poisonous  and  corrupting.  Hence,  in  this  case,  abstinence 
is  the  only  temperance.  He,  therefore,  who  partakes  of  these 
liquors,  however  warily,  is  not,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  term, 
“Temperate.”  He  violates  a  great  law  of  his  being,  and  must 
expect  to  be  punished.  And  this  is  really  the  case.  It  has  been 
computed  that  one-thirteenth  of  the  moderate  drinkers  die  drunk¬ 
ards;  and  we  may  safely  compute  that' at  least  two  out  of 
the  thirteen  become  drunkards,  while  the  remainder  do  not 
escape  scatheless. 

Every  moderate  drinker,  in  fact,  is  engaged  in  playing  a 
dangerous  game  with  his  constitution.  lie  is  performing  a  physi¬ 
ological  experiment  upon  himself  of  a  very  dangerous  character, 
and  what  the  consequences  may  be,  it  is  impossible  to  foretell. 
Reader!  if  you  are  a  moderate  drinker  now,  can  you  be  sure 
that  you  will  always  continue  so?  The  drunkard’s  insatiable 
appetite  and  quenchless  thirst  are  not  created  all  at  once,  but 
silently,  secretly,  and  seductively,  and  when  developed,  bears 
him,  like  the  rushing  torrent  or  resistless  tornado,  onward  to 
his  doom.  Go  forth  to  the  woodland,  and  gaze  upon  the  riven  and 
blasted  oak — riven  and  blasted  by  the  lightning's  subtile  power. 
See  !  it  stands  in  lonely,  leafless,  and  blackened  desolation.  The 
birds  of  the  air  build  not  their  nests  amid  its  branches;  the  beasts 
of  the  field  seek  not  shelter  beneath  its  shade ;  but  in  grim  and 
horrid  loneliness  it  deforms  the  landscape,  and  stands  forth  a 
spectacle  of  ruin  to  all.  And  now  gaze  upon  that  riven  and 
blasted  human  form,  of  which  this  oak  is  but  an  emblem !  See! 


THE  PLEDGE. 


177 


Strong  drink  lias  robbed  him  of  physical  strength,  of  moral 
beauty,  and  of  mental  power.  His  dull  eye  glows  with  a  baleful 
fire,  and  his  face  is  a  fair  index  of  his  debauched  and  ruined 
spirit.  His  very  breath  is  infectious,  and  his  whole  frame 
trembles  beneath  the  awful  curse  of  strong  drink.  Go!  and 
interrogate  him  !  Ask  him  whence  he  came,  and  by  what  foul 
means  he  has  been  thus  debased  and  undone?  lie  will  tell  you 
that  he  was  once  a  lovely,  laughing  child,  and  in  manhood  full 
of  noble  sympathies — that,  in  compliance  with  social  usage,  he 
partook  ‘‘moderately”  of  strong  drink,  and  gradually,  imper¬ 
ceptibly,  yet  most  surely,  he  acquired  a  liking  for  liquor,  which 
has  now  ripe.ned  into  an  irresistible  and  consuming  passion. 
This  is  no  fiction,  but  the  sad  and  terrible  history  of  thousands, 
and  is  repeated  every  day  before  our  eyes. 

Says  Dr.  R.  B.  Grindrod: — “One  of  the  first  stages  of  intem¬ 
perance  is  witnessed  in  the  anxious  and  uneasy  feelings  which 
even  moderate  drinkers  experience,  on  occasions  when  they  have 
been  accidentally  deprived  of  their  accustomed  stimulus.  Sensa¬ 
tions  of  this  nature  present  undoubted  evidence  of  the  existence 
and  development  of  the  inebriate  propensity.  Indeed,  the  great 
danger  of  moderate  drinking  consists  in  the  inability  to  ascertain 
at  what  precise  period  in  the  progress  of  the  vice  this  unnatural 
sensation  first  commences.  .  .  .  The  moderate 

use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  both  in  a  moral  and  physical  point 
of  view,  is  the  high  road  to  intemperance.” — Bacchus. 

(7.)  Signing  the  pledge  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  Christian 
morality. 

Many  persons  who  object  to  the  pledge,  do  not  properly  under¬ 
stand  its  import.  Some  object  to  it  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not 
right  to  take  an  oath.  But  no  “oath”  is  at  all  required  in 
taking  the  temperance  pledge.  It  is  simply  a  “declaration” 
which  even  the  “Friends”  may  make. 

Others  object  that  they  do  not  intend  signing  away  their 
liberty,  and  that  if  they  cannot  give  up  the  drink  without 
signing  the  p'edge,  they  are  sure  they  will  not  be  able  to  do  so 
by  putting  their  names  to  one.  The  meaning  of  this  objection 
is  simply  this:  “lam  not  convinced  that  this  teetotalism  is  a 
suitable  thing  for  me;  and  as  the  practice  of  it  may  sometimes 
be  attended  with  inconvenience,  I  will  reserve  to  myself  the 
liberty  of  using  intoxicating  drink,  should  my  interests  require 
it.”  It  is,  however,  no  question  of  “  liberty.” 


178  TEETOTALJSM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 

Every  moral  agent  has  the  liberty  to  do  right,  or  to  do  wrongs 
and  it  is  in  the  exercise  of  this  choice  that  he  signs  the  pledge. 

What  is  the  pledge?  TV  e  will  cite  one,  and  then  we  shall  see. 
li  I  a.~ree  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  liquors,  and  in  every 
suitable  way  to  discountenance  their  use  throughout  the  com¬ 
munity.”  Here  we  perceive  that  the  pledge  is  simply  a  written 
declaration  of  a  resolution  previously  formed  in  the  mind. 
After  careful  inquiry  and  due  deliberation  I  arrive  at  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  intoxicating  drinks  are  bad,  and  that  the  use  of 
them  is  fraught  with  great  danger  to  myself,  and  with  actual 
mischief  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  other  men.  Ilcnce  a  con¬ 
viction  of  duty.  It  is,  then,  my  duty  to  abstain,  and  by  every 
suitable  means  to  induce  others  to  abstain.  Then  comes  the 
resolution  to  fulfil  that  duty.  Here  the  pledge  is  virtually  taken, 
whether  I  have  signed  it  or  not;  and  should  I  now  partake  of 
strong  drink,  the  sin  (if  not  the  disgrace)  is  just  as  great  as 
though  I  had  already  signed.*  But  having  formed  this  mental 
resolve,  I  desire,  both  for  my  own  encouragement  and  as  an 
example  to  others,  to  give  it  public  expression.  I,  therefore,  sign 
my  name  to  a  printed  declaration,  embodying  substantially  my 
own  convictions  of  right  and  duty.  hat  is  there  wrong  or 
unreasonable  in  this?' 

Bat  the  pledge  involves  a  principle.  If  that  be  proved  right, 
we  must  then  consider  if  the  pledge  be  a  correct  and  proper 
expression  of  it.  !how  the  principle  embodied  in  the  pledge  is 
this:  Is  it  right  to  pledge  ourselves  to  do  good?  The  whole 
tenor  of  Scripture,  both  in  its  examples  and  precept,  says,  Yes  ! 
In  no  single  instance  do  we  find  that  a  vow  to  “do  good”  is 
condemned  in  the  Bible.  By  the  stone  of  Both-el,  Jacob  vowed 
a  vow  unto  Hod,  and  this  was  approved  of;  for,  many  years 
after,  God  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream,  saying,  “  I  am  the*  God 
of  Beth-el  where  thou  anointedst  the  pillar,  and  where  thou 
vow edst  a  vow  unto  me.”  lhe  Nazarites  pledged  themselves  to 
abstain  from  wine  and  strong  drink,  and  to  perform  certain  other 
things.  Ibis  pledge  was  formed  by  God,  and  taken  in  a  very 
solemn  manner  in  the  tabernacle,  in  the  presence  of  the  people. 
Paul  took  a  vow,  probably  that  of  the  Nazarite,  for  having 
fulfilled  it,  he  shaved  his  head  in  Cenchrea.  David  and  Jonathan 
pledged  themselves  solemnly  before  God  to  be  faithful  to  each 
other,  in  one  of  the  most  touching  episodes  of  their  mutual 
*  “  Whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin.” 


THE  PLEDGE. 


179 


history.  We  are,  indeed,  cautioned  against  breaking  a  vow. 
“When  thou  vowest  a  vow  unto  God,  defer  not  to  pay  it;  for  he 
hath  no  pleasure  in  fools:  pay  that  which  thou  hast  vowed.” 
We  further  iind  that  those  who  tempt  others  to  violate  their 
vow  are  severely  reprimanded.  u  And  I  raised  up  of  your  sons 
for  prophets,  and  of  your  }’oung  men  for  Nazarites.  .  .  .  But 

ye  gave  the  Nazarites  wine  to  drink.”  Amos,  ii.  11,  12. 

The  expression  of  this  principle,  in  some  form  or  other,  meets 
us  at  every  turn  of  life.  At  the  hymeneal  altar  we  vow  fidelity 
to  the  partner  of  our  choice.  At  the  baptism  of  the  infant, 
sponsors  vow  three  things  on  behalf  of  the  unconscious  babe. 
Even  over  the  foaming  bowl,  people  pledge  health  and  friendship. 
In  numerous  business  transactions  people  pledge  themselves  to 
abide  by  certain  bargains.  What  is  a  warrant,  but  a  pledge? 
The  man  who  gives  us  a  warrant  with  the  watch,  or  the  horse 
we  purchase  of  him,  takes  a  legal  pledge.  Bills  of  exchange  and 
bank  notes  cannot  be  negotiated  without  a  written  pledge.  We 
cannot  even  promise  to  meet  a  friend  at  any  hour  and  place 
without  pledging  ourselves  to  do  so.  Every  word  of  promise 
is  a  pledge,  for  it  is  a  verbal  expression  of  a  mental  resolution, 
binding  ourselves  to  a  certain  course  of  action. 

I  believe  that  it  is  my  duty  to  abstain  from  strong  drinks, 
and  in  every  suitable  way  to  discourage  their  use.  How,  then, 
shall  I  best  express  my  honest  convictions?  By  word  of  mouth  ? 
Yes,  that  is  one  way.'  But  I  see  before  me  a  band  of  noble 
workers  in  this  grand  crusade,  and  by  identifying  myself  with* 
them,  I  perceive  that  I  shall  be  able  more  effectually  to  work 
out  my  own  convictions;  therefore,  I  sign  the  pledge.  It  is  at 
once  the  distinguishing  badge  and  the  initiatory  rite  of  the 
movement.  It  draws  the  line  of  demarcation,  clear  and  definite, 
between  drinkers  and  abstainers,  and  becomes  a  common  bond 
of  union. 

Not  only  is  it  right  to  take  the  pledge,  the  . doing  so  greatly 
aids  the  keeping  of  the  resolution  to  abstain.  Knowing  how 
weak  and  erring  men  are,  even  at  their  best,  it  is  very  proper  to 
adopt  every  legitimate  means  to  confirm  the  wavering  and  the 
weak  in  the  carrying  out  of  their  good  resolutions.  The  fact  of 
having  signed  the  pledge  offers  at  all  times  a  ready  argument  for 
refusing  to  drink  when  pressed  to  do  so.  Many  teetotalers,  not 
being  well  versed  in  the  principles  of  our  movement,  and  in 
those  facts  by  which  they  are  defended,  might  fail  in  arguing  the 


180  TEETOTALISM  A  GREAT  SCIENTIFIC  FACT. 

point  with  a  witty  anil  loquacious  opponent.  lie  can  answer, 
however,  “  I  have  signed  the  pledge,  and  mean  to  keep  it,’’  and 
it  is  not  manly  to  tempt  a  man  to  break  a  good  resolution, 
especially  one  to  which  he  has  solemnly  and  publicly  pledged 
himself.  The  pledge  has  been  an  actual  instrument  of  great 
good  ;  a  lever  by  which  we  have  succeeded  in  uplifting  from  the 
deepest  debasement  many  a  forlorn  and  pitiable  brother. 

Astute  modern  drinkers  and  professing  Christians  often  put 
to  the  advocate  of  teetotalism  this  question,  Is  it  a  sin  to  drink  a 
glass  of  ale  as  a  beverage  ?  The  teetotaler  does  not  like  to  reply 
•in  the  affirmative,  and  he  cannot, exactly  do  so  in  the  negative, 
yet  should  1|£  hesitate,  his  opponent  fancies  that  he  has  pushed 
him  into  a  corner,  and  overturned  the  whole  fabric  of  teetotalism. 

What  is  sin?  The  wilful  transgression  of  the  law.  What  is 
law  ?  A  rule  of  life.  The  law  is  that  assemblage  of  precepts 
and  rules  expressive  of  principles  and  relations,  obedience  to 
which  is  demanded  by  the  Supreme  Governor.*  Now  laws  are 
either  moral  or  physical.  “Sin,'5  says  James,  “is  the  transgres¬ 
sion  of  the  law,”  that  is,  of  the  law  as  a  whole.  It  refers  alike 
to  moral  and  physical  law.  You  cannot  divorce  them.  The 
man  who  knowingly  violates  physical  law ,  sins  equally  with  him 
who  steals,  or  tells  a  lie,  or  thinks  and  acts  impurely,  and  thus 
violates  a  moral  precept. 

It  has  been  already  shown  that  alcohol  is  an  agent  foreign 
to  the  body  of  man,  a  poison  of  a  very  fascinating  character,  and 
that  the  most  cautious  use  of  it  is  attended  with  great  danger, 
not  only  to  man’s  physical  constitution,  but  also  to  his  moral 
and  spiritual  nature.  Hence,  when  these  facts  are  known,  its 
imbibition,  however  small  the  quantity,  becomes  a  sin.  He  who 
uses  these  liquors,  knowing  them  to  be  bad,  adds  to  the  violation 
of  physical  law  moral  turpitude,  and  he  who  uses  them,  ignorant 
of  their  properties,  is  now  inexcusable . 

1  here  was  a  period  before  the  dawn  of  the  temperance  reform¬ 
ation,  and  the  national  controversy  to  which  it  has  given  rise 
—  a  period  before  science  had  commenced  her  researches — when 
such  ignorance  was  innocent;  for  the  times  of  ignorance  God 
winked  at,  but  now  “He  commands  all  men,  everywhere,  to 
repent.”  We  are  now  surrounded  by  light,  and  it  is  our  duty  as 
rational  beings  to  make  inquiry ;  should  we  wilfully  neglect  to 

*  A  physical  law  is  a  relation ,  not  a  precept;  and  its  violation  cannot  be  a 
sin  unless  it  is  known.— Ed. 


THE  DANGEROUS  EXAMPLE.  • 


181 


do  so,  and  yet  continue  to  indulge  in  the  use  of  strong  dunk, 
then  do  we  commit  sin.  - 

The  example  set  by  the  moderate  drinking  professing  Christian 
is  most  dangerous  and  misleading.  Says  the  prophet,  “  If  thou 
forbear  to  deliver  them  that  are  drawn  unto  death,  and  those 
that  are  ready  to  be  slain  :  if  thou  sayest,  Behold ,  we  knew  it  not ;  • 

doth  not  He  that  pondereth  the  heart  consider  it?  and  He  that 
keepeth  thy  soul,  doth  He  not  know  it?  And  shall  he  not  render 

to  every  man  according  to  his  works?” 

Now" in  regard  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  drink,  not  only  do  a 
great  many  persons  neglect  “  those  that  are  ready  to  perish,  but 
by  their  example  they  delude  and  mislead  thousands  to  their 
ruin.  It  cannot  be  urged  too  forcibly,  nor  spoken  too  plainly, 
that  so  far  as  example  goes ,  the  moderate  drinker  exerts  a  far 
more  dangerous  influence  upon  society  than  the  poor  drunkard. 
We  shudder  at  the  drunkard,  pass  him  by  with  disgust,  and  fear 
not  the  contaminating  influence  of  his  example;  but  not  so  with 
the  respectable  moderate  drinker.  He  gives  a  locus  standi  and 
an  air  of  respectability  to  the  practice;  and  thousands  who 
attempt  to  imitate  him,  fall  and  perish.  I  hey  are  a  kind  of 
“Will  o’  the  Wisp,”  misleading  the  unwary  traveller;  or  like  a 
wrecker’s  lantern  flashing  upon  a  treacherous  sea,  attracting  the 

distressed  mariner  to  the  fatal  rocks. 

If  the  “  moderate  drinker”  would  abandon  his  cups,  within 
4  twelve  years  drunkenness  would  be  all  but  annihilated;  we 
should  only  behold  here  and  there  a  solitary  victim,  holding  out 
in  virtue  of  a  strong  constitution,  a  sad  memorial  of  the  drunk¬ 
enness  of  a  bygone  day. 


16 


182 


BACCHUS  DETHRONED. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


TEETOTALISM  IX  RELATION  TO  TIIE  BIBLE, 

Prop.  III.  “  That  the  use  of  intoxicating  wines,  or  alcoholic 
drinks,  is  nowhere  recommended ,  sanctioned,  or  commanded  in 
Scripture,  as  beverages .” 

Iiie  a  priori  evidence  in  favor  of  this  proposition  amounts  to 
a  very  high  degree  of  probability,  if  not  to  moral  certainty. 
History,  science,  and  experience,  have  already  given  their  ver- 
dicj;  in  favor  of  total  abstinence.  The  great,  the  wise  and  the 
good  in  all  ages  have  expressed  their  convictions  in  its  favor,  and 
that,  too,  in  the  clearest  and  most  decisive  manner.  Tliev  have 
denounced  intoxicating  liquor  as  being  essentially  evil,  and  to 
be  abstained  from. 

Dr.  Lees  says:— “It  is  a  fact  that  teetotalism  everywhere 
pervaded  the  primeval  empires  of  the  world;  that  it  was 
preached  and  practised  by  the  greatest  moral  reformers  and 
spiritual  teachers  of  antiquity was  a  part  indeed,  of  the 
•religious  culture  of  the  Egyptians,  centuries  before  a  Jewish 
Nation  existed.-’*  A  learned  writer  in  the  Med>co  Chirurgical 
lieview  says:— “  Without  contradiction,  in  every  age  of  the  woild 
there  has  been  a  total  abstinence  movement.  .  .  The  religion 

and  laws  of  the  nations  of  every  portion  of  Asia  bear  traces  of 
enlightened  efforts  to  check  the  vice  of  intemperance;  and  to 
this  day  there  are  numerous  tribes  who,  by  religious  profession, 
arc  total  abstainers.” 

I  he  experience  of  the  present  generation  has  corroborated  that 
of  former  ages.  Science  also  has  confirmed  the  teaching  of 
history  and  experience,  demonstrating  alcohol  to  be  a  poTson, 
destructive  alike  to  health,  life,  and  morals.  Scientific  men,  and 
committees  of  learned  and  truthful  witnesses,  have  sought  to 
forinul.se  the  grand  truths  already  brought  to  light. 

1  lie  following  declaration  was  signed  by  upwards  of  two  thou¬ 
sand  medical  men,  including  Sir  B.  Brodie,  Sir  James  Clarke, 

*  Tferfa,  vol.  ii.,  Ancient  Teetotalism. 


THE  EVIDENCE  A  PRIORI.  183 

Dr.  W.  F.  Chambers,  F.  S.  R.,  and  many  of  the  most  eminent 
authors  in  the  medical  profession : 

“  We  are  of  opinion  :—lst  —Thai  a  very  'large  portion  of  human  misery, 
including  poverty,  disease,  and  crime,  is  induced  by  the  use  of  alcoholic 
or  fermented  liquors  as  beverages. 

2d. _ That  the  most  perfect  health  is  compatible  with  total  abstinence 

from  all  such  intoxicating  beverages,  whether  in  the  form  of  ardent  spirits, 

or  as  wine,  beer,  ale,  porter,  cider,  etc. 

3d. — That  persons  accustomed*  to  such  drinks  may  with  perfect 
safety  discontinue  them  entirely,  either  at  once,  or  gradually  alter  a  short 

time.  . 

4th. _ That  total  and  universal  abstinence  from  alcoholic,  liquors, 

and  intoxicating  beverages  of  all  sorts,  would  greatly  contribute  to  the 
health,  the  prosperity,  die  morality,  and  the  happiness  of  the  human 
race.” 

Now  can  the  word  of  God  really  contradict  the  truths  lie  has 
so  clearly  revealed  iu  the  volume  of  nature  and  piovidencc? 
We  cannot  think  so.  The  Unchangeable  cannot  contradict 
Himself.  However,  we  sit  down  and  open  the  Bible,  with  rev¬ 
erence  and  prayer,  so  that  with  unbiased  judgment,  and  a 
sincere  desire  to  know  the  truth,  we  may  ascertain  what  is  the 
mind  of  the  Lord  on  this  point. 

AVe  open  at  Genesis,  and  find  that  on  the  creation  of  man 
ample  provision  was  made  to  meet  all  his  wants  5  food  to  satisfy 
hunger,  water  to  quench  thirst,  a  congenial  companion  to  draw 
out  his  social  affections,  and  God  Himself  to  meet  the  cravings 
ol  his  spiritual  nature. 

Strong  drink,  and  wine  that  intoxicates,  are  not  to  be  found  in 
the  catalogue  of  man’s  requirements,  and  accordingly,  are  not 
provided. 

Upon  the  subsidence  of  the  waters  of  the  deluge,  that  grand 
old  patriarch,  Noah,  descends  from  Mount  Ararat  to  re-pcople 
the  plains  of  Armenia,  and  now  we  have  recorded  the  saddest 
episode  in  the  life  of  that  otherwise  good  man.  “And  Noah 
began  to  be  an  husbandman,  nnd  he  planted  a  vino^  ard  .  And  lie 
drank  of  the  wine  and  was  drunken.”  In  this  passage  wine  is 
mentioned  for  the  first  time  in  the  Bible,  and  it  is  associated  with 
the  mental  and  moral  debasement  of  a  great  and  noble. character. 
Here  then,  upon  the  very  threshold  of  God’s  word  is  held  out  a 
warning  light,  revealing  to  us  that  rock  upon  which  Noah  was 
well  nigh  wrecked.*  We  incline  to  the  opinion  that  Noah’s 

*  Dr.  Lees :  Bible  Lecture  (1851.) 


184  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

drunkenness  was  not  intentional,  but  accidental.  Noah  being  a 
husbandman,  and  possessing  a  vineyard,  would  doubtless  use  the 
fiesh  grape-juice  as  a  nutritious  and  refreshing  beverage,  even  as 
they  do  at  the  present  day  in  all  vine  growing  countries,  in  Asia 
Minor,  Italy,  and  the  South  of  France.  It  is  not  at  all  im¬ 
probable  that  a  bowl  of  this  fresh  juice  was,  by  some  oversight, 
allowed  to  ferment.  This,  in  a  warm  climate,  it  would  do  rapid Iy* 
and  in  a  short  time  the  pure  bland  grape-juice  would  be  converted 
into  an  intoxicating  wine,  Returning  home  from  his  labors  in 
the  field  or  vineyard,  tired  and  thirsty,— in  fact,  just  in  that 
condition  in  which  intoxicants"  exhibit  their  most  powerful 
action,  Noah  catches  sight  ot  the  mis'aid  bowl,  and  without 
understanding  the  change  that  had  taken  place  in  the  liquor, 
drinks  a  deep  and  full  draught.  Upon  his  uncontaminated  body 
the  effect  would  be  almost  instantaneous,  and  in  a  very  brief 
time  he  would  be  drunk!  Strong  drink  is  no  respecter  of 
persons.  Lot  even  the  grace  of  God  will  save  a  man  from 
getting  drunk,  or  from  even  becoming  a  drunkard,  if  he  partakes 
of  strong  drink;  for  in  doing  so  he  places  his  body  under  the 
operation  of  physical  causes,  and  it  will  then  depend  entirely 
upon  idiosyncrasy  of  constitution  or  temperament,  and  other 
concurrent  circumstances,  whether  he  becomes  a  drunkard  or 
not.  We  must  not  presume  upon  grace.  Recollect  how  Christ 
rebukes  the  tempter.  “  It  is  written,  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the 
Lord  thy  God.”  Now  certainly  moderate  drinkers  are  guiltv  of 
presumption,  and  they  do  “  tempt  the  Lord  their  God!”  The 
truth  lies  here— the  grace  of  God  will  save  a  man  from  becom¬ 
ing  a  drunkard  only  by  teaching  him  to  abstain  from  the  use  of 
strong  drink. 

The  second  reference  to  wine  as  an  intoxicating  beverage,  is 

associated  with  the  perpetration  of  a  most  revolting  crime.  Wo 

refer  to  Lot.  True,  the  word  “wine”  occurs  once  before.  In 

Genesis  xiv.  18,  we  read,  “And  Melchisedek,  king  of  Salem, 

brought  forth  bread  and  wine  ;  and  he  was  the  priest  of  the  most 

high  God.’  Rut  a  question  may  arise,  whether  the  yayin  of 

this  passage  is  not  to  be  understood  of  grapes  rather  than  their 

expressed  juice  [as  in  Jer.  xl.  10-“  Gather  ye  yayin  and  summer 

f i’ll ; ts  ]— seeing  that  bread  and  grapes  continue  to  be  associated 

in  the  Last,  as  articles  of  daily  food. — Temperance  liible  Com¬ 
mentary. 

Lot,  for  many  years  a  resident  of  the  wicked  cities  of  the 


THE  ISRAELITES  IN  EGYPT. 


185 


plain,  had  evinced  the  sterling  integrity  of  his  character  by  long 
resisting  their  corrupting  influence.  But  even  he  falls  at  last. 
Secure  in  his  mountain  fastness,  and  with  the  vision  of  those 
burning  cities  still  before  him,  he  commits  a  crime  that  might 
have  caused  even  the  Sodomites  to  blush!  And  what  was  it 
that  caused  righteous  Lot  to  fall  so  deeply?  Wine — probably 
drugged  wine — received  at  the  hands  of  his  own  daughters. 

During  the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  their  circum¬ 
stances  would  not  be  very  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of 
intemperate  habits.  They  dwelt  in  a  land  where  teetotalism,  to 
a  certain  extent,  was  upheld  by  law  by  the  institutions  of 
the  country,  and  being  in  a  condition  of  slavery  and  poverty, 
would  possess  neither  the  means  nor  the  opportunity  to  cultivate 
the  drunkard’s  appetite.  Under  the  guidance  of  Moses  and  Aaron 
they  arc  to  be  rescued  from  their  grievous  bondage,  and  to 
become  a  great  and  a  free  nation.  They  are  to  take  possession 
of  a  land  characterized  by  the  variety  of  its  productions,  the 
exuberant  fertility  of  its  soil,  the  geniality  of  its  climate,  and 
the  beauty  of  its  scenery;  a  land  described  as  “a  good  land,  a 
land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  fountains  and  depths  that  spring 
out  of  valleys  and  hills;  a  land  of  wheat,  and  barley,  and  vines, 
and  fig-trees,  and  pomegranates;  aland  of  oil,  olive,  and  honey,” 
(Deut.  viii.  7,  8,)  and  then  surrounded  by  improved  circum¬ 
stances,  they  will  be  exposed  to  temptations  of  a  new  character. 
The  one  most  likely  to  occur,  and  the  most  dangerously  fasci¬ 
nating,  is  drink. 


As  yet  their  religious  and  political  systems  are  incomplete; 
they  consist  merely  of  those  traditionary  teachings  handed 
down  from  Abraham  and  the  later  patriarchs ;  but  now,  under 
the  guiding  hand  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  both  alike  receive  their 
grand  completion  and  development,  and  as  we  attentively  peruse 
and  ponder  them,  we  discover  ample  provision  made  to  preserve 
the  Jews  a  sober  nation. 

(1.)  Under  certain  circumstances  the  priests  are  compelled  to 
practise  abstinence.  Nadab  and  Abihu,  sons  of  Aaron,  had 
perished  by  fire  before  the  Lord,  doubtless  because,  under  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  drink,  they  had  dared  to  offer  strange  fire  upon  the  altar. 
Evidently  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  this  conduct  on  the  part  of  the 
priesthood,  “  the  Lord  spake  unto  Aaron,  saying,  Do  not  drink  wine 
nor  strong  drink ,  thou  nor  thy  sons  with  thee,  when  ye  go 
into  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  lest  ye  die  :  it  shall  be 
16* 


186  TEETOTALISM  IN 


RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


a  statute  forever  throughout  your  generations:  And  that  ye 
may  put  difference  between  holy  and  unholy,  and  between 
unclean  and  clean  ;  And  that  ye  may  teach  "the  children  of 
I.-oael  all  the  statutes  which  the  Lord  hath  spoken  unto  them  by 
the  hand  of  Moses/’  Lev.  x.  8.  1 1. 

(2.)  About  this  time  an  abstinent  society  was  founded 
among  the  Jews  the  Nazarites.  This  body  appears  to  have 
been  established  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  Jews,  by  living 
example,  the  superiority  of  a  pure  and  sober  life  over  a  life  of 


sensuality  and  drunkenness.  The  Nazarites  were  evidently  a 
very  superior  race  of  men.  Jeremiah  says  of  them,  “Her 
Nazarites  were  purer  than  snow,  they  were  whiter  than  milk, 
they  were  more  ruddy  in  body  than  rubies,  their  polishing  was 
of  sapphire.”  Lam.  iv.  7. 

Ihe  history  of  Israel  records  that  many  of  her  noblest  sons 
were  Nazarites.  Among  them  we  find  Samson,  of  matchless 
strength;  Samuel,  renowned  for  his  fervent  piety,  his  noble 
integi itv,  and  patriotism  ;  and  probably  also  the  Hebrew  child¬ 
ren  ;  Daniel  the  wise,  and  Shadrach,  Mcshach,  and  Abednego, 
""ho  lefused  to  defile  themselves  with  the  rich  foods  and  luxu¬ 
rious  wines  from  the  king’s  table,  preferring  rather  to  live  on 
pulse  and  water. 

(3.)  To  inculcate  the  idea  of  purity,  and  teach  the  Israelites 
that  the  God  they  served  was  a  holy  God,  requiring  a  pure 
sacrifice  and  worship,  certain  rules  were  laid  down  to  regulate 
tlicii  s.ici lfices.  INot  only  were  the  victims  offered  in  sacrifice  to 
be  free  from  spot  or  blemish,  but  they  were  not  to  be  offered 
w.tli  feiment.  I  non  shalt  not  offer  the  blood  of  my  sacrifice 
with  leaven.”  Exodus  xxxiv.  25.  “No  meat-offering  which  ye 
shall  bring  unto  the  Lord  shall  be  made  with  leaven;  for  ye 
shall  burn  no  leaven,  nor  any  honey,  in  any  offering  of  the  Lord 
made  by  fire.”  Lev.  ii.  11.  The  wine  of  the  drink-offering 
must  have  come  under  the  same  regulation,  since  only  upon  this 
ground  could  it  harmonize  with  the  meat-offering,  and  with  the 
characteristic  purity  of  all  the  offerings  and  sacrifices.  The 
quantity  of  the  wine  for  a  drink-offering  is  mentioned,  but  not 
the  quality;  the  generic  term  yayin  being  used.  “And  the 
fourth  part  of  an  hin  (three  pints)  of  wine  for  a  drink-offering 
shalt  thou  prepare  with  the  burnt-offering  or  sacrifice,  for  one 
lamb.  Or  for  a  ram,  thou  shalt  prepare  for  a  meat-offering  two- 
tenth  deals  of  flour  mingled  with  the  third  part  of  an  hin  of 


THE  ISRAELITES  A  TEETOTAL  NATION. 


187 


oil.  And  for  a  drink-offering  thou  shalt  offer  the  third  part  of 
an  hiii  (four  pints)  of  wine,  for  sweet  savor  unto  the  Lord 
.  And  thou  shalt  bring  for  a  drink-offering  half  an 
bin  (six  pints)  of  wine,  for  an  offering  made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet 
savor  unto  the  Lord.’5  Numbers  xv.  5,  G,  7,  10. 

(4.)  During  the  forty  years’  wandering  of  the  Israelites  in  the 
desert  they  were  trained  abstainers.  Their  principal  support  was 
manna  from  heaven,  and  water  from  the  flinty  rock,  and  for  a 
brief  period  the  flesh  of  quails,  when  they  lusted  after  flesh. 
Deut.  xxix.  G.  Thus  then,  when  at  last  they  advanced  to  take 
possession  of  the  land  of  Palestine  they  had  a  decided  advantage 
over  their  drunken  and  effeminate  enemies.  They  were,  in  fact, 
a  disciplined  army  of  hardy,  sober  people,  well  able  to  stand 
the  brunt  of  war.  Guided  by  intrepid  and  experienced  generals, 
as  Joshua  and  Caleb,  the  walled  cities  soon  fell  before  them,  and 
in  a  brief  time  a  large  portion  of  that  fair  heritage  lay  at  their 
feet.  But  no  sooner  do  they  rest  from  war  than  they  give  them¬ 
selves  up  to  an  easy  and  luxurious  life.  The  land  produces 
food  abundantly.  There  are  corn  and  grapes,  dates  and  olives, 
honey  and  milk.  Instead  of  using  these  “  creatures  of  God’’ 
in  a  proper  manner,  giving  thanks  to  the  Giver  of  all  good,  they 
abuse  them,  and  yield  themselves  up  to  luxury,  drunkenness, 
and  adultery.  Sad  indeed  are  the  representations  given  of  their 
dissolute  habits  by  their  own  seers  and  historians.  Says 
Isaiah  : — “  Woe  to  the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards  of 
Ephraim,  whose  glorious  beauty  is  a  fading  flower,  which  are 
on  the  head  of  the  fat  valleys  of  them  that  are  overcome  with 

wine . But  they  [the  priests]  also  have  erred. 

through  wine,  and  through  strong  drink  are  out  of  the  way;  the 
jyr  est  and  the  prophet  have  erred  through  strong  drink,  they  are 
swallowed  up  of  wine,  they  are  out  of  the  way  through  strong 
drink;  they  err  in  vision,  they  stumble  in  judgment.  For  all 
tables  are  full  of  vomit  and  filthiness,  so  that  there  is  no  place 
clean.”  Isaiah  xxviii.  1,  7,  8.  In  chapter  lvi.,  the  prophet 
still  further  pictures  the  debasement  of  the  priesthood,  the  watch¬ 
men  of  Israel.  “  II is  watchmen  are  blind  ;  they  are  all  ignorant , 
they  are  all  dumb  dogs,  they  cannot  bark  ;  sleeping,  lying  down, 
loving  to  slumber.  Yea,  they  are  greedy  dogs  which  can  never 
have  enough,  and  they  are  shepherds  that  cannot  understand: 
they  all  look  to  their  own  way,  every  one  for  Ins  gain,  from  his 
quarter.  Come  ye,  say  they,  I  will  fetch  wine,  and  we  will  fill 


188  TEETOTALTSM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

ourselves  with  strong  drink;  and  to-morrow  shall  be  as  this  day, 
and  much  more  abundant.”  “  Like  priest  like  people,”  and  with 
•  a  sensual  and  drunken  priesthood,  no  wonder  the  Jews  were  a 
sensual  and  drunken  people.  Contemporary  prophets  also  bear 
testimony  to  the  wide-spread  intemperance  and  demoralization 
'which  at  that  time  characterized  the  nation,  involving  alike 
priest  and  prophet,  prince  and  people.  Says  Amos  (eh.  ii.)  : 

thus  saith  the  Lord;  For  three  transgressions  of  Judah,  and 
for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  ’the  punishment  thereof;  because 
they  have  despised  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  have  not  kept  his 
commandments,  and  their  lies  caused  them  to  err,  after  the 
which  their  fathers  have  walked.” 

(5.)  The  true  prophets  are  inspired  to  denounce  the  sin ,  to 
point  to  its  causes,  and  to  indicate  the  remedy.  In  the  following 
passage  the  human  and  the  Divine  plan  are  contrasted. 

“  Thus  s^ith  the  Lord  ;  For  three  transgressions  of  Israel,  and 
for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment  thereof;  because 
they  sold  the  righteous  for  silver,  and  the  poor  for  a  pair  of 
shoes.  .  .  And  they  lay  themselves  down  upon  clothes  laid  to 
pledge  by  e\ery  altar,  and  they  drink  the  wine  of  the  condemned 
in  the  house  of  their  God.  .  .  •  And  I  raised  up 

of  your  sons  for  prophets,  and  of  your  young  men  for  Nazarites. 

But  ye  gave  the  Nazarites  ufine  to  drink:  and 
commanded  the  prophets,  saying,  Prophesy  not.”  Amos  ii. 

Ilosea  says,  “  They  make  the  king  glad  with  their  wickedness, 
and  the  princes  with  their  lies.  ...  In  the  day  of  our 
king  the  princes  have  made  him  sick  with  bottles*  of  wine; 
he  stretched  out  his  hands  with  scorners.”  Ilosea  vii.  3,  5. 

The  prophet  Mieah  informs  us  that  at  this  time  the  nation 
was  so  degraded,  that  they  rejected  the  true  prophet,  and  would 
only  accord  a  hearing  to  those  who  flattered  their  vanity,  or 
encouraged  them  in  their  dissolute  practices.  lie  says “  If  a 
man  walking  in  the  spirit  and  falsehood  do  lie,  saying,  I  will 
prophesy  unto  thee  of  wine  and  of  strong  drink,  he'  shall  even 
be  the  prophet  of  this  people.”  Chap.  ii.  11. 

Io  arouse  the  nation  to  a  sense  of  their  degraded  condition,  and 
to  put  a  check  upon  their  lawless  career  of  licentiousness  and 
drunkenness,  woes  are  denounced  against  the  drinker,  and  those 
who  tempt  others  to  drink  ;  the  intoxicating  wines  are  described 
as  bad  and  destructive,  being  likened  to  the  poison  of  dragons, 

*  Original  in  Khtmah  poison,  as  in  Deut.  xxxii. 


INTOXICATING  WINE  DISCOUNTENANCED. 


180 


and  the  cruel  venom  of  asps,  also  to  the  serpent’s  bite,  and  adder’s 
sting,  and  to  God's  wrath  and  indignation.  Even  the  effect  of 
intoxicating  wine  upon  the  human  constitution  is  vividly  por¬ 
trayed,  and  its  very  use  is  more  than  once  prohibited,  not  only 
to  kings  and  princes,  but  to  all  classes  in  general.  Thus  in  every 
conceivable  way  is  the  use  of  intoxicating  wine  discountenanced. 

Moses  says: — “For  their  rock  is  not  as  our  Rock,  even  our 
enemies  themselves  being  judges.  For  their  vine  is  of  the  vine 
of  Sodom,  and  of  the  fields  of  Gomorrah  :  their  grapes  are  grapes 
of  gall,  their  clusters  are  bitter:  Their  wine  is  the  poison  of 
dragons,  and  the  cruel  venom  of  asps.”  Deut.  xxxii.  31,  33. 

The  Psalmist  says: — “For  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  there  is  a 
cup,  and  the  wine  is  red ;  it  is  full  of  mixture  ;  and  he  poureth 
out  of  the  same :  but  the  dregs  thereof,  all  the  wicked  of  the 
earth  shall  wring  them  out,  and  drink  them.”  Ps.  lxxv.  8. 

Solomon  says : — “  For  they  eat  the  bread  of  wickedness,  and 
drink  the  wine  of  violence.”  Elsewhere  it  is  called  the  “  wine  of 
astonishment.”  “Wine  is  a  mocker,  strong  drink  is  raging: 
and  whosoever  is  deceived  thereby  is  not  wise.  Prov.  xx.  1. 
“Who  hath  woe?  who  hath  sorrow?  who  hath  contentions? 
who  hath  babblings  ?  who  hath  wounds  without  cause  ?  who  hath, 
redness  of  eyes?  They  that  tarry  long  at  the  wine  5  they  that 
go  to  seek  mixed  wine.  Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  is 
red,  when  it  giveth  his  color  in  the  cup,  when  it  moveth  itself 
aright.  At  the  last  it  bitetli  like  a  serpent,  and  stingeth  like  an 
adder.  Thine  eyes  shall  behold  strange  women,  and  thine  heart 
shall  utter  perverse  things.  Yea,  thou  shalt  be  as  he  that  lieth 
down  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  or  as  he  that  lieth  upon  the  top  of 
the  mast.  They  have  stricken  me,  shalt  thou  say ,  and  I  was 
not  sick:  they  have  beaten  me,  and  I  felt  it  not:  when 
shall  I  awake?  I  will  seek  it  yet  again.”  Prov.  xxiii.  29-35. 
For  comprehensiveness,  correctness  of  description,  and  prohibi¬ 
tory  force,  this  is  the  grandest  teetotal  passage  that  can  be 
found  in  the  wide  field  of  either  temperance  or  general  litera¬ 
ture. 

In  chapter  xxxi.,  King  Lemuel’s  mother  gives  very  good 
advice  to  her  son.  She  says  : — “  It  is  not  for  kings,  0  Lemuel, 
it  is  not  for  kings  to  drink  wine ;  nor  for  princes  strong  drink  : 
Lest  they  drink,  and  forget  the  law,  and  pervert  the  judgment  of 
any  of  the  afflicted.” 

This  advice  is  in  accordance  with  the  strictest  principles  of 


190  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


teetotalism.  The  following  verses,  however,  are  frequently 
quot  'd  aga:nst  us.  Let  us  exnmi  ie  them  : 

“Give  strong  drink  unto  him  that  is  ready  to  perish,  and  wino 
unto  those  that  be  of  heavy  heart  Let  him  drink  and  forget  his 
poverty,  and  remember  his  misery  no  more.”  Prov.  xxxi.  6,  7. 

This  cannot  be  a  command  to  seek  in  the  intoxicating  cup, 
oblivion  from  the  sorrows  and  cares  of  life,  for  such  an  interpre¬ 
tation  is  opposed  to  the  whole  jtenor  and  spirit  of  God’s  word. 
Says  James,  “  Is  any  afflicted  ?  let  him  pray.”  It  is  at  a  throne 
of  grace  that  the  afflicted  must  seek  consolation  and  strength  ; 
not  by  applying  to  the  bottle.  What,  then,  is  the  meaning  of 
the  passage?  In  the  preceding  verses  King  Lemuel’s  mother 
warns  him  against  the  use  of  wine  and  strong  drink,  and  specifies 
her  reasons  for  doing  so.  “  Lest  they  drink  and  forget  the  law, 
and  pervert  the  judgment  of  any  of  the  afflicted.”  Now  to 
show  the  thorough  worthlessness  of  the  drink  to  aid  us  in  the 
higher  work  of  life,  she  says,  in  evident  irony,  “Give  strong 
drink,”  etc.  As  much  as  to  say,  wine  and  strong  drink  are  not 
fit  beverages  for  kings  or  princes,  or  for  any  other  person  having 
responsible  duties  to  perform;  they  are  only  fit  for  those  who 
seek  oblivion  from  the  cares  of  life  and  who  wish  to  shirk  its 
duties. 

The  sixth  and  seventh  verses,  then,  cited  above,  do  not  convey 
a  recommendation  to  the  poor  and  suffering  to  seek  forgetfulness 
in  the  inebriating  cup,  neither  is  it  a  command  for  u*  to  supply 
them  with  drink  for  this  purpose  ;  but  the  expressions  are  sim¬ 
ply  contrastive  utterances  with  the  view  of  giving  force  to  the 
prohibitory  advice  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  verses.  Even  suppos¬ 
ing  that  the  passage  conveyed  a  command  or  a  sanction,  such 
can  only  apply  to  a  certain  class,  under  very  special  circum¬ 
stances.  The  person  to  whom  the  command  and  sanction  apply 
must  be  “  ready  to  perish,”  that  is,  having  committed  some  great 
crime,  he  must  be  upon  the  point  of  suffering  the  extreme 
penalty  of  the  law — capital  punishment;  for  hero  is  an  evident 
allusion  to  a  practice  common  among  the  Jews,  viz  :  that  of 
administering  some  stupefying  wine  to  criminals  doomed  to 
dt'ath,  in  order  to  mitigate  pain  and  deaden  nervous  sensibility. 
Now  to  those  who  quote  this  passage  in  favor  of  drinkinir,  we 
put  the  question, — Are  you  ready  to  perish?  Are  you  about  to 
suffer  a  violent  and  cruel  death?  It  not,  then  this  passage  docs 
not  apply  to  you. 


MIGHTY  DRINKERS. 


191 


Again,  the  person  to  whom  the  supposed  sanction  applies, 
must  be  suffering  from  ‘‘bitterness  of  spirit,”  or  to  give  the  full 
force  of  the  expression  in  the  lxx.,  tois  en  odunais,  they  must  be 
writhing  in  torturing  anguish.  We  ask  those  who  quote  this 
text  against  us,  are  you  suffering  from  bitterness  of  spirit,  or 
writhing  in  torturing  anguish  ?  If  not,  then  this  passage  does 
not  apply  to  you,  but  the  prohibitory  advice  in  the  preceding 
verses  does.  It  is  not  for  such  to  drink,  but  to  abstain. 

Further,  if  the  text  be  a  sanction  at  all,  it  goes  a  little  further 
than  moderation.  It  is  a  sanction  to  excess,  the  drinking  is  to 
be  up  to  the  point  of  oblivion ,  till  they  forget  their  poverty  and 
remember  their  misery  no  more.  Can  Burns  have  paraphrased 
it  correctly? 

"Gie  him  strong  drink  until  he  wink 
That’s  sinking  in  despair, 

An’  liquor  guid  to  fire  his  bluid 
That’s  press’d  wi  grief  an’  care; 

There  let  him  bouse  an’  deep  carouse 
Wi  bumpers  flowing  o’er, 

Till  he  forgets  his  love  an’  debts 
An’  minds  his  griefs  no  more.’'  ’ 

There  is  some  logical  propriety  in  the  poor  drunken  wretch 
who  needs  oblivion  from  a  sense  of  his  debasement  and  misery 
citing  this  text  as  a  Scriptural  defence  of  his  conduct,  but  not 
when  the  moderate  drinker  cites  it  in  defence  of  his  practice. 
(For  an  able  exposition  of  this  text,  see  Temperance  Bible  Com¬ 
mentary.) 

Says  Isaiah: — “Woe  unto  them  that  rise  up  early  in  the 
morning,  that  they  may  follow  strong  drink  ;  that  continue  until 
night,  till  wine  inflame  them!  .  .  Woe  unto  them  that  are 

mighty  to  drink  wine,  and  men  of  strength  to  mingle  strong 
drink!”  (ver.  11,  12.)  Not  only,  then,  are  drunkards  denounced 
men  inflamed  with  wine,  but  also  those  whq  have  so  habituated 
themselves  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  as  to  be  able  to  con¬ 
sume  a  large  quantity  without  being  intoxicated. — “  Men  mighty 
to  drink  wine,”  and  umen  of  strength''  who  “ mingle  strong  drink." 

Says  Jeremiah  : — “  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  unto 
me  :  Take  the  wine  cup  of  this  fury  at  My  hand,  and  cause  all 
the  nations,  to  whom  I  send  thee,  to  drink  it.  And  they  shall 
drink,  and  be  moved,  and  be  mad,  because  of  the  sword  that  I 
will  send  among  them.”  (Chap.  xxv.  15,  16.)  Here,  then,  in 


192 


TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


imagery  drawn  from  the  well  known  and  visible  action  of  intoxi¬ 
cating  wine,  we  have  described  the  punishments  to  be  inflicted 
upon  a  drunken  and  worthless  people. 

Says  Ilabakkuk: — “NVoe  unto  him  that  giveth  his  neighbor 
drink,  that  puttest  thy  bottle  to  him *  and  makest  him  drunken 
also,  that  thou  mayest  look  on  their  nakedness.”  (ii.  15.) 

This  passage  applies  to  all  who,  from  mistaken  notions  of 
hospitality,  are  continually  presenting  the  glass  to  the  lips  of 
their  neighbors  and  friends;  and  emphatically  to  those  who  are 
engaged  in  dealing  out,  early  and  late,  a  drink  which  corrupts 
and  demoralizes  the  people.  It  also  applies  to  those  who  are 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  them,  and  to  the  government, 
that  for  the  sake  of  revenue,  legalizes  and  protects  a  traffic  most 
destructive  to  the  national  welfare. 

From  the  reign  of  Solomon  to  the  days  of  Ahab  the  Israelites 
appear  to  have  made  rapid  strides  in  drunkenness  and  profligacy, 
and  they  continued  their  downward  career  till  swept  away  in 
the  Babylonish  captivity. 

During  the  degenerate  days  of  Ahab,  about  900  b.  c.,  flourished 
Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab,  a  descendant  of  Jethro  the  Midi- 
anite,  Moses*  father-in-law,  and  at  that  timo  the  head  of  the 
tribe  of  Rechabites.  To  preserve  his  tribe  and  people  from 
the  general  corruption  of  manners,  and  to  secure  their  safety  in 
the  land  in  which  they  lived  as  strangers,  he  enjoins  upon  them 
abstinence  from  the  use  of  strong  drink,  and  other  safeguards. 
Jonadab  is  gathered  to  his  fathers,  and  well  nigh  three  centuries 
roll  away,  when  Jeremiah  appears  upon  the  stage.  The  times 
are  troublous,  and  the  Jews  are  even  more  degenerate  than  in 
the  days  of  the  wicked  Ahab.  The  Rechabites,  however,  still 
exist  intact  as  a  tribe,  and  are  still  obedient  to  the  •sage  advice 
of  their  renowned  ancestor.  Commanded  by  God,  Jeremiah 
sends  for  the  elders  of  the  tribe,  and  takes  them  to  one  of  the 
chambers  of  the  house  of  God,  and  there  places  before  them  pots 
full  of  wine,  and  cups,  and  says  unto  them — “Drink  ye  wine.” 
This  was  not  done  to  tempt  the  Rechabites  to  a  violation  of  the 
command  of  Jonadab  their  father,  but  for  the  purpose  of  teach¬ 
ing  the  Jews  a  valuable  lesson. 

The  Rechabites  respond — “  We  will  drink  no  wine :  for  Jona¬ 
dab,  the  son  of  Rechab,  our  father,  commanded  us,  saying,  Ye 
shall  drink  no  wine,  nor  your  sons,  forever.”  As  a  reward  for 

la  the  original,  poison. — En. 


THE  APOCRYPHA. 


193 


their  attachment  to  principle,  and  for  their  filial  obedience, 
Jeremiah  conveys  to  them  the  divine  message: — “Because  ye 
have  obeyed  the  commandment  of  Jonadab  your  father,  and 
kept  all  his  precepts,  and  done  according  unto  all  that  he  hath 
commanded  you  :  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  the 
God  of  Israel ;  Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab  shall  not  want  a  man 
to  stand  before  me  forever.” 

Now,  where  are  the  Rechabhes?  Nearly  three  thousand  years 
have  passed  away  since  these  events  occurred.  During  the  revolv¬ 
ing  centuries,  mighty  empires  have  risen,  flourished  and  decayed. 
Cities  at  that  time  opulent,  powerful,  and  populous,  the  wronder 
and  admiration  of  the  ancient  world,  have  strangely  disappeared, 
a  few  mounds  upon  the  banks  of  mighty  rivers  being  all  that 
remains  to  tell  where  they  once  stood.  The  Jewish  nation  is 
scattered  far  and  wide,  and  her  people  have  become  vagrants  in 
all  lands  ;  yet  amid  all  these  convulsions  and  changes  the  Recha- 
bites  have  survived,  and  now  as  of  old  they  are  a  generous, 
truth-loving  and  sober  people,  still  cherishing  with  veneration 
the  traditions  of  their  great  ancestor,  and  still  obedient  to  his 
commands. — See  Temperance  Bible  Commentary . 

The  Old  Testament  comes  to  an  end;  the  prophet  Malachi 
writes  its  concluding  words.  But  the  Apocrypha,  to  a  certain 
extent,  takes  up  the  story,  for  scattered  throughout  its  pages  are 
sentiments,  at  least,  not  unfavorable  to  our  system.  In  the 
Book  of  Esdras  we  read:  “0  ye  men,  how  exceeding  strong  is 
wine  !  it  causeth  all  men  to  err  that  drink  it:  It  maketh  the 
mind  of  the  king  and  of  the  fatherless  child  to  be  all  one  :  of  the 
bondman  and  of  the  free  man,  of  the  poor  man  and  of  the  rich: 
It  turneth  also  every  thought  into  jollity  and  mirth,  so  that  a 
man  remembereth  neither  sorrow  nor  debt :  And  it  maketh  every 
heart  rich,  so  that  a  man  remembereth  neither  king  nor  governor; 
and  it  maketh  to  speak  all  things  by  talents :  And  when  they 
are  in  their  cups,  they  forget  their  love  both  to  friends  and 
brethren,  and  a  little  after  draw  out  swords :  But  when  they  are 
from  their  wine,  they  remember  not  what  they  have  done.” 
Ch.  iii.  18-24,  of  1st  Book. 

In  Ecclesiasticus  we  read,  “  Rebuke  not  thy  neighbor  at  the 
wine,  and  despise  him  not  in  his  mirth  ;  give  him  no  despiteful 
words,  and  press  not  upon  him  with  urging  him  to  drink.”  Ch. 
xxxi.  31. 

Between  the  days  of  Malachi  and  the  dawning  of  the  Christian 
17 


194  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


dispensation,  two,  or  more,  abstinent  sects  existed  among  the 
JewTs.  The  Essenes,  in  Palestine,  and  the  Therapeutae,  at 
Alexandria.  According  to  Philo  and  Josephus,  they  strongly 
resembled  the  older  Pythagoreans  5  they' followed  none  but 
peaceful  avocations  5  lived  a  very  pious,  regular,  and  sober  life; 
opposed  slavery,  were  remarkable  for  virtuous  conduct  and 
a  noble  integrity,  and  abstained  entirely  from  all  wine  and 
strong  drink.  They  also  were*. long  livers,  many  of  them 
attaining  to  the  age  of  an  hundred  years,  “  which,”  says  Josephus, 
“  is  to  be  ascribed  to  their  simple  and  plain  diet ;  and  the 
temperance  and  good  order  observed  in  all  things.” 

Now  the  fulness  of  time  having  come,  John  the  Baptist  ap¬ 
pears  to  herald  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  dispensation.*  The 
dispensation  of  types  and  shadows,  of  obscure  promises,  and  a 
sensuous  worship,  is  passing  away,  and  a  new  and  spiritual 
dispensation  is  about  to  commence,  leading  men  to  a  more 
spiritual  worship,  to  a  higher  and  diviner  life,  to  a  more  direct 
communion  with  God,  and  to  the  exercise  of  a  broader  philan¬ 
thropy  among  men.  John  the  Baptist  appears,  to  prepare 
men’s  minds  for  the  change  by  uprooting  olden  prejudices,  and 
sweeping  away  olden  errors.  John  was  a  Nazarite,  a  Nazarite 
from  the  birth,  and  by  Divine  command.  He  was  no  ordinary 
man,  but  alike  in  his  physical,  mental,  and  moral  endowments, 
a  fit  instrument  for  carrying  out  the  great  work  appointed  him. 
Our  Lord  bears  this  noble  testimony  of  him.  “Among  those 
born  of  women,  there  is  not  a  greater  prophet  than  John  the 
Baptist.” 

But,  teas  our  Lord  himself  an  abstainer  from  intoxicating 
liquors  f  Did  Ilis  example  countenance  this  practice  ?  In  re¬ 
plying  to  these  queries,  we  may  observe  that  our  Lord  was  no 
ascetic  in  the  modern  sense  of  that  term.  lie  did  not  abstain 
from  the  innocent  enjoyments  and  recreations  of  the  people,  but 
joined  in  festive  and  social  gatherings,  gracing  them  with  Ilis 
presence,  and  making  all  glad  about  Him.  Nor  did  He  refuse 
to  partake  of  the  “good  creatures”  so  munificently  supplied 
by  the  Great  Father.  He  enjoins  upon  Ilis  followers  no  fastings, 
no  unnatural  and  painful  mortifications  of  the  flesh.  When,  on  a 
certain  occasion,  some  of  the  Pharisees  came  to  Him,  asking, 
“Why  do  the  disciples  of  John  and  of  'the  Pharisees  fast,  but 
thy  disciples  fast  not?”  He  replied,  “  Can  the  children  of  the 
•  See  Temperance  Bible  Commentary ,  “Connection  of  Old  and  New  Testament.” 


OUR  LORD  AN  ABSTAINER. 


195 


bride-chamber  fast,  while  the  bridegroom  is  with  them?”  The 
ascetics  of  His  day,  offended  at  our  Lord  for  encouraging.by  His 
presence  the  innocent  merry-makings  of  the  people,  charge  him 
with  being  “a  gluttonous  man,  and  a  mne-bibber ;  a  friend  of 
publicans  and  sinners.”  Like  many  people  at  the  present  day, 
they  were  not  able  to  distinguish  between  innocent  merriment 
and  alcoholic  excitement,  and  ranked  the  exuberant  outpourings 
of  a  contented  mind  with  unholy  pleasure  and  dietetic  excess. 
Though  our  Lord  associated  himself  with  the  people  he  came 
to  bless  and  save,  and  countenanced  their  innocent  recreations, 
we  cannot  infer  that  lie  countenanced  the  use  of  those  intoxi¬ 
cating  wines  which  antagonize  innocent  enjoyment,  and  tend 
to  convert  a  sober  feast  into  a  wild  debauch.  We  must  assume 
that  He  was  well  able  to  distinguish  between  those  potent 
liquors — creatures  of  human  invention — and  those  bland  and 
innocent  beverages,  the  juice  of  the  grape  and  the  sap  of  the 
palm-tree,  provided  by  the  hand  of  God.  Further,  many  con¬ 
siderations  make  it  highly  probable  that  our  Lord  was  an 
abstainer.  1.  Because  of  the  discriminating  wisdom  which  we 
know  lie  possessed,  and  the  unsullied  purity  of  Ilis  moral 
nature.  lie  who  knew  so  well  the  hearts  of  men,  must  cer¬ 
tainly  have  known  what  science  and  experience  have  so  clearly 
revealed  in  regard  to  intoxicating  liquors.  Our  Lord  was  too 
wise,  too  good,  too  pure,  to  countenance  by  His  example,  and  to 
enjoin  by  His  precepts,  the  use  of  a  liquor  condemned  by  tho 
Old  Testament  Seers,  and  by  Old  Testament  Institutions,  as  well 
as  by  the  purest  of  the  philosophical  and  religious  sects  of  his 
day.  “Was  he,”  asks  Dr.  Lees,  “less  discriminating  than  Plato, 
less  a  philosopher  than  Pythagoras,  less  a  moralist  than  Epi¬ 
curus,  less  a  reformer  than  Buddha?” 

2.  On  the  only  occasion  which  it  can  be  shown  that  intoxi¬ 
cating  wine  was  offered  him,  he  refused  to  drink.  “And  they 
gave  him  to  drink,  wine  mingled  with  myrrh,  but  he  received  it 
not .”  Here  we  have  direct  evidence  that  our  Lord  rejected 
intoxicating  wine  under  circumstances  where  the  use  of  wine, 
if  allowable  at  all,  might  be  resorted  to  without  criminality. 
But  we  have  no  evidence,  either  direct  or  indirect,  that  He  ever 
partook  of  such  wine,  or  encouraged  its  use  in  others. 

It  is  true,  that  at  the  marriage  feast  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  our 
Lord  miraculously  changed  water  into  wine,  but  it  is  a  pure 
and  groundless  assumption  that  it  was  intoxicating. 


196  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

The  whole  weight  of  evidence  is  against  such  a  supposition. 
For,  consider, 

(1.)  The  occasion — a  marriage  feast.  •  It  is  certainly  very 
improbable  that  our  Saviour  should  endanger  the  sobriety  of  the 
invited  guests,  and  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom,  by  exercising 
Almighty  power  in  converting  an  innocent  water  into  intoxicating 
wine.  We  havS  been  present  at  many  marriage  feasts  in  this 
country,  but  never  attended  one  at  which  intoxicating  liquor  was 
used,  without  observing  some  of  the  guests  unduly  excited. 
There  are  so  many  “  toasts”  to  drink,  so  many  good  wishes  to 
express  over  the  wine  cup,  that  we  cannot  wonder  at  people 
getting  drunk. 

(2.)  The  company— 11  And  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  there, 
and  both  Jesus  was  called  and  His  disciples  to  the  marriage.” 
Now,  with  the  presence  of  His  mother,  whom,  as  a  son,  He  vene¬ 
rated  and  loved,  and  with  the  presence  of  Ilis  disciples,  who 
were  looking  up  to  Him  as  their  Saviour  and  King,  it  certainly 
would  have  looked  very  strange,  to  say  the  least,  had  He  pro¬ 
vided  the  people  with  the  means  of  gratifying  an  abnormal 
appetite,  thereby  incurring  the  risk  of  offending  the  delicacy  of 
Ilis  mother,  and  of  impairing  the  faith  of  Ilis  disciples  in  the 
moral  grandeur  of  Ilis  character  and  mission. 

(3.)  The  purpose  of  the  miracle. — The  exhibition  of  Ilis  glory, 
the  glory  of  His  power,  and  grace,  challenging  alike  the  con¬ 
fidence  of  Ilis  disciples  and  of  the  assembled  guests.  I  his 
purpose  was  accomplished.  “This  beginning  of  miracles  did 
•Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  and  manifested  forth  His  glory;  and 
Ilis  disciples  believed  on  Him.”  The  miracles  of  Christ,  unlike 
a  great  many  of  the  miracles  of  the  ancient  Seers,  were  uniformly 
of  a  benevolent  character,  and  confirmatory  of  Ilis  own  declara¬ 
tion  concerning  Himself:  “  The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  destroy 
men’s  lives,  but  to  save  them.”  Had  the  wine  of  this  miracle 
been  of  an  intoxicating  nature,  it  would  have  been  a  manifes¬ 
tation  of  his  power,  but  certainly  not  of  Ilis  benevolence.  It 
would,  in  fact,  have  been  a  curse  in  disguise;  for  such  "wine  is 
a  mocker .” 

(  4.)  The  characteristic  expression — “  good  wine.”  The  wine 
made  by  our  Lord  was  good.  Now  intoxicating  wines  are,  in 
fact  and  truth,  not  good,  but  bad  and  vile— they  mock  and  de¬ 
ceive.  Among  the  moral  ancients  the  sweet  wines  were  deemed 
the  best.  According  to  the  Old  Testament,  this  class  of  wines 


THE  MIRACLE  AT  CANA. 


197 


was  also  in  high  repute  among  the  Jews.  Now  it  was  equally 
within  the  power  of  our  Lord  to  make  the  good  wine,  or  the  bad  ; 
wine  that  “cheers  and  strengthens,”  but  “  not  inebriates,”  or  wine 
that  perverts  the  heart  and  stupefies  the  senses.  lie  who  came 
into  this  world  to  bless  and  to  save,  cannot  be  supposed  to  have 
exercised  Ilis  power  in  making  a  wine  that  destroys  and  deceives. 

(5.)  The  instant  surprise  of  the  governor  of  the  feast. — lie  Avas 
the  first  to  taste  the  good  Avine.  “  When  the  ruler  of  the  feast 
had  tasted  the  Avater  that  Avas  made  wine,  and  knew  not  Avhence 
it  Avas,”  he  “called  the  bridegroom,  and  saith  unto  him,  Every 
man  at  the  beginning  doth  set  forth  good  Avine  ;  and  xvhen  men 
have  well  drunk f  then  that  which  is  worse  :  but  thou  hast  kept 
the  good  wine  until  now.”  Says  Dr.  Lees: — “There  Avas  no 
Avaiting  to  observe  the  intoxicating ,  or  supposed  alcoholic  effect. 
It  Avas  a  question  of  taste  and  flavor .”  The  usual  custom  Avas 
to  provide  good  Avine  at  the  commencement  of  marriage  feasts, 
for  the  use  of  the  most  intimate  friends  and  more  favored 
guests,  but  toward  the  termination  of  the  feast,  Avhen  the  guests 
present  Avere  composed  principally  of  casual  acquaintances,  Avines 
of  inferior  quality  were  served  out.  These  marriage  feasts 
generally  lasted  seven  days.  This  miracle  was  most  probably 
performed  on  the  third  or  fourth  day.  Up  to  this  time  the  guests 
had  evidently  been  very  liberally  supplied  Avith  Avine  not  re¬ 
markable  for  its  excellence  ;  for  the  above  statement  made  by 
the  governor  of  the  feast  reveals  a  general  custom,  having  here 
its  special  application.  Noav  upon  the  supposition  that  the  wine 
so  liberally  consumed  during  the  early  days  of  the  feast  was  intoxi¬ 
cating,  many  of  the  guests  must  have  been  intoxicated,  a  few  of 
them  probably  drunk.  To  maintain,  then,  that  under  these 
circumstances  our  Lord  should  make  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
Avine  of  a  similarly  intoxicating  character,  to  keep  up  the  merry¬ 
making,  and  finish  the  revel,  is  little  short  of  blasphemy.  It  has 
been  urged  that  the  Avliole  quantity  Avas  not  at  once  converted 
into  wine,  but  that  the  water  became  Avine  only  when  poured 
into  the  wine  cup.  This  will  not  detract  from  the  force  of  the 
argument,  but  only  make  it  prospective.  The  whole  quantity  of 
water  was  evidently  set  apart  for  that  purpose,  and  Avould  doubt- 

# 

*  And  when  men  have  well  drunk]  Kai  hotan  methusthosi,  “and  when  they 
(the  guests;  have  drunk  to  the  full.”  The  governor  did  not  refer  to  the 
inebriating  effect,  but  to  the  large  quantity  consumed,  and  this  is  the  primary 
signification  of  the  word. — Temperance  Bible  Commentary. 


198  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  TIIE  BIBLE. 

less  have  formed  wine  so  long  as  the  demand  and  the  water 
lasted,  and  the  servants  continued  to  pour  into  the  cups,  and  as 
the  feast  had  yet  three  or  four  days  to  run,  the  whole  quantity 
(probably  120  gallons)  might  be  required. 

It  is  also  alleged  that  the  wine  used  at  the  Last  Supper  which 
our  Lord  celebrated  with  His  disciples  was  intoxicating.*  The 
evidence,  critical  and  historical,  is  against  such  a  supposition. 

L  I  he  element  used  is  called  the  “  fruit  of  the  vine,”  and  is 
never  even  mentioned  under  the  name  of  wine.  Further,  intoxi¬ 
cating  wine  is  not,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  the  “  fruit  of 
the  vine”  at  all,  but  a  chemical  compound  altogether  different 
in  composition  and  properties  from  grape-juice. 

Ihe  occasion  of  its  use  was  the  celebration  of  the  feast  of 
the  passover.  The  Jews  were  commanded  to  celebrate  this  feast 
with  matzoth ,  the  plural  of  matzah,  signifying  “  sweet  things,”  that 
is,  things  unfermented.  According  to  Gesenius,  matzah  signifies 

sweetness  ;  concrete,  sweet,  not  fermented.”  “  Seven  days  shalt 
thou  eat  matzoth ,  and  the  seventh  shall  be  a  feast  to  the  Lord. 
Unleavened  bread  shall  be  eaten  seven  days:  and  there  shall  no 
leavened  bread  ( khahmatz ,  ‘that  which  is  fermented1 )  be  seen 
with  thee,  neither  shall  there  be  seor  [any  yeasty  or  fermentable 
substance]  seen  with  thee  in  all  thy  quarters.”  Exod.  xiii.  G,  7. 

Mr.  Herschel,  a  converted  Jew,  says: — “The  word  hhomets 
[ferment]  has  a  wider  signification  than  that  which  is  generally 
attached  to  leaven,  by  which  it  is  rendered  in  the  English  Bible, 
and  applies  to  the  fermentation  of  corn  in  any  form,  to  beer,  and 
to  all  fermented  liquors.” 

Here  then  we  have  a  very  strict  command  applicable  alike  to 
liquids  and  solids,  wine  and  bread.  That  the  Jews  so  under¬ 
stood  this  command  is  quite  evident  from  the  general  custom 
prevalent  among  them,  both  anterior,  and  subsequent  to,  the 
days  of  our  Lord  5  a  custom  which  even  to  the  present  day 
extensively  obtains  among  them. 

Says  Moses  Stuart,  Professor  of  Sacred  Literature  in  the 
theological  Seminary  of  Andover,  U.  S.  : — “Not  only  leavened 
hi  ead,  but  other  things  which  have  undergone  fermentation  were 
excluded  from  the  passover  meal.  Perhaps  this  usage,  which 
was  carried  so  far  by  the  Jews,  arose  mainly  from  a  strict  regard 

*  For  a  detailed  consideration  of  this  question,  see  the  First  Prize  Essay 
on  Sacramental  Wine ,  by  Dr.  Lees;  and  the  Second  Prize  Essa</,  by  Rev.  P. 
M earns,  (1845). 


THE  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


199 


to  the  supposed  real  meaning  of  the  command  in  Exodus,  chap, 
xii.,  which  is  not  expressed  by  declaring  that  the  Hebrews  shall 
not  eat  fermented  bread ,  but  by  declaring  that  they  should  not 
cat  anything  fermented .  Now  the  word  [that  has  been  trans¬ 
lated]  eating,  is  in  cases  without  number,  employed  to  include  a 
partaking  of  all  refreshments  at  a  meal — drinks  as  well  as 
foods.’  * 

Again  he  remarks  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  (vol.  i.): — “  I  can¬ 
not  doubt  that  khamatz  [ferment,]  in  its  widest  sense,  was 
excluded  from  the  Jewish  passover  when  the  Lord’s  Supper  was 
first  instituted  ;  for  I  am  not  able  to  find  evidence  to  make  me 
doubt  that  the  custom  among  the  Jews  of  excluding  fermented 
wine  as  well  as  fermented  bread*  is  older  than  the  Christian  era. 
.  .  .  .  That  this  custom  is  very  ancient — that  it  is  even 

now  almost  universal ;  and  that  it  has  been  so  for  time  whereof 
the  memory  of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary,  I  take  to  be 
facts  that  cannot  be  fairly  controverted.” 

This  custom  exclusively  obtains  among  modern  Jewish  com¬ 
munities.  Dr.  Cunningham,  the  learned  Hebraist,  says: — 
“  What  is  now  chiefly  used  by  the  Jews  at  the  passover  for  wine, 
is  a  drink  made  of  an  infusion  of  raisins  in  water,  which  is 
either  boiled  at  once  or  simmered  during  several  days.  It  is  free 
from  alcohol  and  acidity.  It  is  quite  sweet.  I  have  tasted  it  at 
the  paschal  table.  No  Jew  with  whom  I  have  conversed,  of 
whatever  class  or  nation,  ever  used  any  other  kind.  But  a  Mr. 
Jonas  informed  me,  that  he  believed  the  proper  kind  of  wine  is 
that  expressed  from  the  red  grapes  at  the  time.”  (For  further 
testimonies,  see  Temperance  Bible  Commentary ,  pages  281,  2,  3.) 
Now  have  we  any  grounds  whatever  for  supposing  that  our  Lord 
deviated  from  the  Mosaic  command,  and  the  general  custom 
founded  upon  it?  We  know,  on  the  contrary,  that  He  came  not 
to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets,  but  to  fulfd  them,  and  that 
it  became  him  to  fulfil  all  righteousness. 

What  kind  of  wine,  we  would  further  inquire,  is  most  in  keep¬ 
ing  with  the  nature  of  this  symbolic  ordinance.  A  drugged  and 
mixed  wine,  an  emblem  of  wrath  and  the  cause  of  strife,  or  the 
unfermented  juice  of  the  grape  that  cheers  and  strengthens? 

3. — Consider  the  custom  of  the  primitive  churches.  As  sub¬ 
sidiary  evidence,  we  may  cite  the  Jong  established  practice  of 
nearly  all  the  Christian  communities  of  the  East,  though  widely 
separated  from  each  oilier.  Baron  Tavernier,  in  his  “  Persian 


200  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


Travels”  (1652),  says  of  the  Christians  of  St.  John,  whom  he 
found  very  numerous  at  Balsara  (Bassorah),  “  In  the  cucharist 
they  make  use  of  meal  or  flour,  kneaded  up  with  wine  and  oil ; 
for,  say  tlie}r,  the  blood  of  Christ  being  composed  of  two  principal 
parts,  flesh  and  blood,  the  flour  and  the  wine  do  perfectly  repre¬ 
sent  them.  To  make  their  wine  they  take  grapes  dried  in  the 
sun — which  they  call  in  their. language  zebibes — and  casting 
water  upon  them,  let  them  steep  for  so  long  a  time.  The  same 
wine  they  use  in  the  consecration  of  the  cup.”  The  Christians 
of  St.  Thomas,  who  were  found  on  the  coast  of  Malabar,  and 
claimed  to  have  derived  the  gospel  from  St.  Thomas  the  apostle, 
celebrate  the  Lord’s  Supper  in  the  juice  expressed  from  raisins, 
“softened  one  night  in  water,”  says  Odoard  Barbosa.  “  They  in 
their  sacrifices  used  wine  prepared  from  the  dried  grapes,”  states 
Osorius  (De  Rebus,  1586).  Ainsworth,  in  his  “Travels  in  Asia 
Minor,”  (London,  1842,)  notes  the  administration  of  the  sacra¬ 
ment  among  the  Nestorians,  and  adds,  “Raisin  water  supplied 
the  place  of  wine.”  Tisohendorf,  in  his  narrative  of  “Visits  to 
the  Coptic  Monasteries  of  Egypt,”  remarks  that  at  the  cucharist 
the  priest  took  the  thick  juice  of  the  grape  from  a  glass  with  a 
spoon;  and  Dr.  Gobat  (Protestant  Bishop  of  Jerusalem),  in  his 
Abyssinian  journal,  records  the  reception  of  some  bottles  of 
grape  wine.  “The  wine  is  the  juice  of  dried  grapes  with  water.” 
[The  Abyssinian  church  was  established  in  the  fourth  century, 
and  numerous  eye-witnesses  who  accompanied  the  English  army, 
under  Sir  II.  Napier,  in  1806,  amply  confirm  this  testimony.] 
The  Abyssinian  church  still  adheres  to  the  primitive  custom  of 
administering  the  eucharist  with  unfermented  wine.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  an  eminent  Roman  Catholic  divine,  called  the  xVngelical 
Doctor,  who  flourished  in  the  thirteenth  century,  says, —  Mus- 
tum  autemjam  habet,  speciem  vini ,  et  ides  de  musto  potest  confici 
hoc  sacramentum.  “Grape-juice  has  the  specific  quality  of  wine, 
and  therefore  this  sacrament  may  be  celebrated  with  grape-juice.” 
It  was  also  a  custom  that  obtained  very  extensively  among  the 
early  churches  to  mix  the  wine  with  water;  a  practice  com¬ 
mended  by  the  Christian  Fathers,  and  by  councils  of  the 
churches.  It  doubtless  had  its  origin  in  the  use  of  inspissated 
or  solid  wines,  which  of  course  could  not  be  drunk  till  mixed 
with  water.  “The  practice  of  mingling  wine  with  water,  both 
at  the  passover  and  Lord’s  Supper,  is  undoubtedly  very  ancient. 
But  the  wide-spread  custom  of  boiling  wines  till  the  juice  was 


ABSTINENCE  ENJOINED  IN  THE  EPISTLES.  201 


reduced  to  a  syrup  or  jelly,  made  the  addition  of  water  in  large 
quantities  necessary,  not  to  weaken  the  alcoholic  strength,  hut 
to  render  them  fit  for  drinking  at  all.  In  regard  to  those  which 
were  fermented,  and  retained  the  alcohol,  the  per  centage  of 
spirit  was  not  greater  than  from  6  to  15  ;  and  when  this  liquor 
was  diluted  with  water  in  the  proportion  of  three  to  one  of  bulk, 
the  beverage  could  not  be  compared  with  the  ‘  fortified  ’  wines 
now  in  use.  Rabbi  Yehudse  is  expressly  said,  in  the  Mishna, 
to  have  approved  of  boiled  wines,  the  use  of  which  at  the  pass- 
oyer  would  necessitate  the  liberal  application  of  water.  The 
antiquity  of  wine-and-water  in  the  Christian  eucharist  is  high. 
Cyprian  pleads  for  it  as  an  apostolic  tradition,  and  mystical 
reasons  very  attractive  to  the  Fathers  were  alleged  in  its  behalf.” 
— Temperance  Bible  Commentary ,  page  279. 

4. — It  is  objected  that  since  Paul  censured  the  Corinthians  for 
drunkenness  at  the  Lord’s  table,  the  wine  used  must  have  been 
intoxicating.  We  reply,  the  apostle  Paul  censures  the  Corinth¬ 
ians  for  irregularities  at  their  feasts,  not  for  drunkenness.  “  For 
in  eating  every  one  taketh  before  other  his  own  supper ;  and  one 
is  peina  (hungry),  and  another  is  methnei ,  (overfilled,  satiated.) 
The  very  construction  shows  this  rendering  of  the  word  methnei 
to  be  correct.  Here  we  have  two  parties,  the  one  is  peina , 
hungry,  and  the  other  methuei,  overfilled  •,  hunger  contrasted 
with  repletion.  The  terms  are  antithetical,  which  they  would 
not  be  if  we  render  methuei  ‘  drunken/  Sobriety  and  drunken¬ 
ness  are  antithetical ;  but  hunger  is  not  antithetical  to  drunken, 
its  antithesis  is  overjilled.  That  the  word  will  bear  this  render¬ 
ing,  without  doing  any  violence  to  its  construction,  or  to  its 
connection  in  the  text,  is  quite  evident  by  an  appeal  to  the  Sep- 
tuagint  of  the  Old  Testament.  Jeremiah  xxxi.  14:  “I  will 
satiate  ( methuei )  the  soul  of  the  priests  with  fatness.”  Dr. 
MacKnight  renders  methuei  as  ‘‘plentifully  fed.”  Dr.  A.  Clarke 
states: — “Some  ate  to  excess,  others  had  scarcely  enough  to 
suffice  nature.  Methuei,  was  filled  to  the  full;  this  is  the  sense 
of  the  word  in  many  places  of  Scripture.” 

The  epistles  contain  many  passages  where  total  abstinence  is 
enjoined  both  expressly  and  by  implication.  In  the  following 
passages  abstinence  is  enjoined  as  a  duty. 

1  Tim.  iii.  2,  3.  “  A  bishop  then  must  be  blameless,  the  hus¬ 

band  of  one  wife,  abstinent  ( neeplialion ),  of  sound  mind,  of  good 
behavior,  given  to  hospitality,  apt  to  teach ;  mee  paroinon  (not 


202  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

near  wine),  no  striker,  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre;  hut  patient, 
not  a  brawler,  not  covetous.” 

Bishops  are  to  be,  among  other  things,  abstinent ,  sober-minded, 
and  '"not  near  wine’7 ;  and  why?  That  they  may  be  examples  of 
sobriety  and  self-government  to  the  flock  of  God.  But  these 
duties  are  equally  incumbent  upon  the  members  of  that  flock, 
who  are  to  emulate  those  virtues  which  they  see  exemplified  in 
the  lives  of  their  bishops;  they  are  no  more  to  be  polygamists 
than  drinkers. 

1  Thess.  v.  6-8.  “  Therefore,  let  us  not  sleep,  as  do  others ; 

but  let  us  watch  and  be  sober.  Kai  neephomen ,  ‘  and  be  absti¬ 
nent.’  For  they  that  sleep,  sleep  in  the  night,  and  they  that 
be  drunken,  are  drunken  in  the  night.  But  let  us,  who  are  of 
the  day,  be  sober,  neephomen  [be  abstinent,]  putting  on  the 
breastplate  of  faith  and  love;  and  for  an  helmet  the  hope  of 
salvation.”  As  children  of  the  light,  and  of  the  day,  we  are  to 
put  away  dark  deeds,  and  to  abstain  from  that  which  begets 
dark  thoughts  and  evil  desires,  and  to  act  as  children  of  God,  as 
enlightened  and  purified  by  divine  truth. 

1  Peter  iv.  7.  “  But  the  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand :  Be  ye 

therefore  sober,  sophroneesate ,  sober-minded. 

And  watch  unto  prayer” — Kai  neepsate  eis  tas  proseuchas,  and 
abstinent  in  order  to  prayers. 

The  tendency  of  intoxicating  liquor,  even  when  taken  in  great 
moderation,  is  to  take  the  edge  off  the  devotional  spirit,  and  to 
produce  a  disinclination  to  engage  in  pure  spiritual  exercises. 

1  Peter  v.  8.  “Be  sober,  be  vigilant;  because  your  adver- 
sary,  the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh  about,  seeking  whom 
he  may  devour.” 

Be  sober — neepsate ,  “be  abstinent.” 

Seeking  whom  he  may  devour — Zeeton  tina  katapiee ,  “seeking 
whom  he  may  drink  down.”  Says  Dr.  A.  Clarke:— “It  is  not 
every  one  that  he  can  swallow  down.  Those  who  are  sober  and 
vigilant  are  proof  against  him;  these  he  may  not  swallow  down. 
Ihose  who  are  drunk  with  the  cares  of  this  world,  and  are  un- 
watchful,  these  he  may  swallow  down.  There  is  a  beauty  in  this 
verse,  and  striking  opposition  between  the  first  and  last  words, 
which  I  think  have  not  been  noticed; — be  sober,  neepsate ,  from 
nee  not,  and  piein,  to  drink, — do  not  swallow  down — and  the 
word. katapiee,  from  kata,  down,  and  piein,  to  drink.  If  you 
swallow  strong  drink  down,  the  devil  will  swallow  you  down. 


THE  WINE  RECOMMENDED. 


203 


Hear  this,  ye  drunkards,  topers,  tipplers,  or  by  whatsoever  name 
ye  are  known  in  society,  or  among  your  fellow-sinners,  strong 
drink  is  not  only  your  way  to  the  devil,  but  the  devil’s  way  into 
you.  Ye  are  such  as  the  devil  particularly  may  swallow  down.” 

That  Keephaleon,  Neephomen ,  etc.,  are  correctly  rendered  in  the 
above  passages,  is  quite  evident  by  an  appeal  to  Greek  and  to 
Jewish  Greek  writers,  who  flourished  about  the  same  time  as  the 
apostle. — See  Works  of  Dr.  Lees ,  vol.  2d,  1853. 

Says  Josephus,  speaking  of  the  divinely  appointed  abstinence 
of  the  Jewish  priests  : — apo  dkratou  neephontes,  “they  abstained 
from  wine.” — See  Jewish  Wars,  b.  5.  ch.  5.  87. 

After  the  age  of  the  apostles,  Plutarch,  in  his  Precepts  of 
Health,  gives  the  word  the  same  rendering.  “  Many  times  we 
offer  unto  Bacchus  himself,  certain  sacrifices  called  Neephalia  (or 
sober),  in  which  no  wine  is  used.” 

Lexicographers  give  the  same  rendering  of  the  word.  . 

According  to  Scott  and  Liddell: — “  Neephalios,  sober;  and 
of  drink,  without  wine,  wineless.'' 

According  to  Donnegan  : — “  Neephalios,  adj.  abstemious,  Met. 
discreet,  performed  without  using  wine ,  as  in  certain  religious 
rites.” 

According  to  Robinson: — “ Keepho ,  fut.  neepso,  to  be  sober, 
temperate,  abstinent ,  especially  in  respect  to  wine.  Tropically, 
watchful ,  circumspect.” 

The  duty  of  abstinence  is  also  implied  in  many  of  those  pas¬ 
sages  in  which  we  are  called  upon  to  cultivate  the  higher  graces 
and  virtues  of  Christianity. — See  chapter  vi. 

We  will  now  examine  the  leading  objections. 

1. — The  Bible  recommends  wine,  it  speaks  of  it  as  a  good  thing, 
cheering  both  God  and  man,  and  ranks  it  among  blessings  which 
are  to  be  conferred  upon  an  obedient  people.  “  Therefore,  God 
give  thee  of  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  the  fatness  of  the  earth,  and 
plenty  of  corn  and  wine Gen.  xxvii.  28. 

“  lie  will  bless  the  fruit  of  thy  land,  thy  corn,  and  thy  wine* 
and  thine  oil.”  Deut.  vii.  13. 

True  1  but  it  is  equally  so  that  in  the  Bible  wine  is  also  con- 
cTemned  ;  that  it  is  spoken  of  as  a  bad  thing  ;  that  it  is  likened 
unto  God’s  wrath;  that  it  is  described  as  possessing  all  the 
deadly  properties  of  the  adder’s  sting  and  the  serpent’s  bite;  and 
that  many  cautions  are  dealt  out  against  its  use.  What  then? 

*  The  original  is  tirosh,  “vine  fruit,”  not  ynyin ,  “wine.” — Ed. 


204  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


Dogs  the  Bible  contradict  itself?  Certainly — ij' the  wines  spoken 
of  as  a  blessing  be  the  same  in  composition  and  physiological 
action  as  the  wine  prohibited  and-  condemned.  It  follows,  then, 
either  that  the  Bible  contradicts  itself,  and  is  no  longer  a  reliable 
guide  in  matters  of  faith  and  practice,  or  that  two  totally  different 
and  distinct  kinds  of  wine  are  referred  to;  the  one  injurious  and 
intoxicating,  therefore  forbidden,  and  the  other  beneficial  to  the 
human  constitution,  unintoxicating,  and  therefore  recommended; 
for  observe,  in  those  passages  where  wine  is  condemned,  no  refer¬ 
ence  whatever  is  made  to  the  quantity  of  wine.  It  is  the  quality, 
not  the  quantity,  that  is  spoken  of  in  terms  of  disapproval  and 
caution.  It  is  wine ,  not  an  excessive  quantity  of  wine,  that  is  a 
mocker.  It  is  strong  drink  that  is  raging  It  is  wine  that 
biteth  like  the  serpent,  that  stingeth  like  the  adder;  upon  which 
we  are  not  to  gaze  when  it  giveth  i'ts  color  in  the  cup;  that  kings 
and  piinces  are  not  to  drink,  and  which  caused  both  priest  and 
prophet  to  err. 

When  we  come  to  inquire  more  particularly,  we  find  direct 
lefeience  made  to  more  species  of  wine  than  one,  wines  totally 
different  in  their  composition,  and  in  their  action  upon  the  human 
frame.  There  were  in  extensive  use  among  the  Jews  several 
sorts  of  wine,  known  by  different  names,  and  producing  vastly 
different  effects.  Some  of  them  were  mild  and  unintoxicating, 
others  were  medicinal,  while  others  again  were  hot  and  intoxi¬ 
cating,  and  detrimental  to  health  and  morals. 


In  the  original  Scriptures,  these  different  kinds  of  wine  are  dis¬ 
tinguished,  either  by  certain  generic  terms,  the  import  of  which 
is  to  be  ascertained  by  an  examination  of  the  context,  or  by  spe¬ 
cific  names ,  significant  of  their  properties.  In  the  Hebrew  Scrip¬ 
tures  there  are  eight ,  in  the  Greek  four,  different  words,  all  trans¬ 
lated  wine  in  our  version,  viz Hebrew,—  Yayin,  Khamar, 

Mesek ,  Ahsis,  Soveh,  Tirosh ,  Ashishah ,  Shemarim.  Greek, 

O/nos ,  Gleukos ,  Oxos ,  and  Akraton.  The  Hebrew  Shakar,  is 
translated  once  strong-wine,  but  generally  strong-drink. 

1  ay  in,  Khamar  and  Shalcar ,  are  generic  terms,  just  as  wine 
and  beer  are  in  our  language.  Yayin  refers  to  the  liquid  pro¬ 
duct  of  the  vine,  in  the  form  of  grape-juice,  whether  fermented' 
or  unfermented,  intoxicating  or  unintoxicating.  This  word 
occurs  one  hundred  and  forty-one  times  in  the  Old  Testament- 
It  is  piobably  derived  Iroin  an  obsolete  root,  signifying  boilin^  or 
foaming,  and  originally  conveyed  the  idea  of  the  bfood  of  "the 


GENERIC  TERMS. 


205 


grape  foaming  in  the  wine  vat.  In  the  course  of  time,  when  wines 
became  fermented  and  drugged,  the  term  was  still  applied  to 
them,  and  so  yayin  came  to  be  a  generic  term,  denoting"  wines 
of  all  sorts,  from  the  pure  foaming  juice  of  the  grape  to  wines 

the  most  stupefactive  and  impure. 

Yayin ,  therefore,  sometimes  denotes  a  blessing,  sometimes  a 
curse.  In  some  passages  it  is  recommended,  in  others  it  is  con¬ 
demned,  and  even  its  use  interdicted. 

Khamer  is  also  a  generic  term.  It  is  the  Chaldee  synonym 
of  yayin ,  and  occurs  in  Ezra  vi.  9,  and  Daniel  v.  1,  2,  4,  23. 
Says  Dr.  Lees: — “Its  derivation  is  from  the  Hebrew  Jchemer , 
which  may  be  translated  foaming  or  turbid,  or  as  we  say  m 
English,  ‘yeasty,’  barmy ,  scummy.  It  has,  therefore,  a  ’\ery 
wide  application,  and  its  meaning  comprehends  ‘all  sorts  of 
wine,’  without  shutting  us  up  to  any  in  particular.”— Temper¬ 
ance  Bible  Commentary.  Prelim.  Pis. 

Shakar  is  the  generic  term  denoting  “sweet  drink,”  without 
any  reference  to  its  state  as  fermented  or  unfermented.  It  is,  in 
fact,  a  general  name  for  liquors  made  from  date,  grain,  or  other 
fruits,  but  not  from  the  grape.  Says  Dr.  Lees:— “To  argue 
from  analogy,  we  may  suppose  that  the  term  shakar  would 
pass  through  the  same  changes  of  meaning— or  to  speak  more 
accurately,  be  as  variously  applied — as  its  companion  yayin;  that 
originally,  it  signified  the  juice  or  syrup  of  fruits  other  than  of 
the  vine,  expressed  or  inspissated,  but  subsequently,  when  the 
people  became  corrupted  from  their  primitive  simplicity,  and 
the  pure  drink  had  been  drugged  or  fermented,  the  shakar, 
which  is  ‘  raging.’  Shechar ,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  a 
like  generic  term  with  yayin;  hence,  we  perceive,  they  might  be 
applied  to  two  classes  of  drink— of  which  each,  in  its  pure  and 
simple  state,  whether  natural  or  prepared,  is  equally  sanctioned, 
recommended,  or  ordained  5  while  each,  irT  its  depraved  or 
drugged  condition,  is  alike  disowned,  disapproved  and  de¬ 
nounced.”  Again  he  says,  “  Shechar  was  applicable  to  the 
following  articles :— First,  the  natural  liquid  syrup,  or  saccharum , 
obtained  from  incision  of  the  palm  or  pressure  of  the  date ; 
second ,  the  natural  syrup  inspissated  for. Die  purpose  of  preser¬ 
vation;  third,  this  inspissated  juice  mingled  with  drugs— ‘mixed 
palm  wine’;  fourth ,  the  once  sweet  luscious  syrup  when,  from 

*  Strictly,  applied  to  all,  not  signifying  all,  or  any.  Man,  angel,  wife,  for 
instance,  connote  all,  but  do  not  denote  any  special  kinds.— Ed. 


206  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

carelessness  or  exposure  to  heat  and  air,  it  had  ‘  grown  tart  and 
bitter ' — fermented  shechar.” 

If  we  consider  the  origin  of  the  word,  and  also  its  numerous 
derivatives,  it  will  be  still  further  evident  that  in  its  original 
application  it  was  used  to  designate  drinks,  not  on  account  of 
their  intoxicating  properties,  but  their  sweetness. 

Says  Dr.  Lees: — “Modern  philologists  concede  its  reference 
to  a  drink  made  from  the  palm  tree,  honey,  etc.  ;  and  that  the 
verb  formed  from  it,  or  from  which  it  is  derived  (as  the  case  may 
be,)  primarily  signifies  to  fill,  cloy ,  satisfy ,  or  satiate ,  which, 
though  properties  of  a  saccharine  drink,  are  by  no  means  those 
of  a  stimulating  one.  It  is  the  distinguishing  quality  of  stimu¬ 
lants,  that  they  tend  to  generate  an  appetite  for  more — a  physi¬ 
cal  craving  which,  in  its  consummation,  is  insatiable.'1' 

In  all  the  Indo-Germanic  and  Semitic  languages,  the  word  for 

sugar  has  a  common  root  with  this  term.  Dr.  Lees  says: _ “The 

affinity  of  terms  furnishes  strong  evidence  as  to  the  original 
chaiacter  of  shechar.  The  Arabic  sakkar  or  sukker ,  the  Sanscrit 
sarkara ,  Tamool  sakkara  (the  primitives  of  which  signify  ‘sweet 
salt’),  are  clearly  identified  with  the  Hebrew  shechar ,  the  In¬ 
dian  sacchary  and  shuker-kund  (from  which  last  is  our  sugar- 
candy),  the  Persian  shukkur ,  the  Greek  saccharon ,  and  the  Latin 
sacchamm.  Now  these  derivations  would  have  been  impossible 
if  the  Oriental  root  had  not  once  signified  sweetness.  The  affinity 
is  also  traceable  in  all  the  modern  languages.  The  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  word  for  sugar,  derived  through  the  Saracens  from 
the  Arabic  sukker,  by  adding  a  or  al  (as  in  al  and  koliol ),  is 
azukar ,  and  the  common  word  molasses  is  an  abbreviation  of  the 
phrase  mel-de-assucar ,  ‘honey  of  sugar/  From  the  Latin  we 
have  our  own  saccharine,  the  German  zucher,  the  Italian  zucchero , 
and  the  French  sucre,  and  probably  from  the  German  our  com¬ 
mon  words  sugar ,  and  sukkar  (a  sweetmeat).” 

This  word  is  mentioned  twenty-three  times  in  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  and  in  every  passage  but  two,  in  terms  of  disparagement 
and  warning.  Wherever,  however,  we  meet  this  word  in  the 
Bible,  philological  research  can  go  but  a  little  way  in  leading  us 
to  its  correct  signification.  All  that  philology  informs  us  is, 
that  sweet-drink  is  in  that  particular  passage  referred  to,  but 
whether  that  sweet-drink  be  fermented  or  unfermented,  intoxi¬ 
cating  or  unintoxicating,  from  the  mere  appearance  of  the  word 
we  cannot  tell,  and  we  must  seek  to  ascertain  its  correct  signi- 


SHAKAR— SWEET-DRINK. 


207 


fication  by  examining  it  in  the  light  of  its  context,  the  general 
scope  of  ilie  passage,  and  the  genius  of  the  Bible. 

In  the  twenty-and-one  passages  there  can  be  no  mistake  what¬ 
ever  as  to  the  application  of  the  term.  It  is  sweet-drink  that 
has  become  strong;  strong  by  alcoholic  fermentation,  or  by  the 
admixture  of  deleterious  drugs,  strong  to  corrupt  the  morals, 
inflame  the  passions,  and  overthrow  the  reason  ;  it  is  therefore 
condemned,  being  prohibited  to  priest,  nazarite,  king  andpiince, 
whilst  woes  are  denounced  against  those  who  rise  up  early  in  the 
morning  that  they  may  follow  it,  and  against  men  of  stiengtli 

who  mingle  it. 

The  two  exceptional  passages  are:  (1.)  Numbers  xxviii.  7. 
«  And  the  drink-offering  thereof  shall  be  the  fourth  part  of  an 
hin  for  the  one  lamb :  in  the  holy  place  shalt  thou  cause  the 
strong  wine  to  be  poured  unto  the  Lord  for  a  drink-offering.” 

The  strong  wine ,  shalcar ,  “  sweet  drink This  is  the  only  pas¬ 
sage  where  the  authorized  version  gives  to  shalcar  the  rendeiing 
ofstrong-wine.  When,  however,  we  consider  the  general  char¬ 
acter  of  the  Jewish  sacrifices  and  offerings,  it  is  preposterous  to 
assume  that  the  sweet-drink  in  this  case  must  be  intoxicating. 

(2.)  Deut.  xiv.  26.  “And  thou  shalt  bestow  that  money  for 
whatsoever  thy  soul  lusteth  after,  for  oxen,  or  for  sheep,  oi  for 
wine,  or  for  strong  drink ,  or  for  whatsoever  thy  soul  desireth  : 
and  thou  shalt  eat  there  before  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  thou  shalt 
rejoice,  thou,  and  thine  household.” 

Strong  drink]  Shokar,  “  sweet-drink.”  “  Strong”  is  an  inter¬ 
polation  by  the  translators,  and  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  original. 
The  holy  associations  of  the  text  forbid  the  idea  of  intoxicating 
drink. 

Direct  reference  is  made  to  one  of  the  great  annual  gatherings 
of  the  people,  gatherings  at  which  assembled  both  male  and 
female,  old  and  young.  Now  if  we  interpret  the  passage  as  a 
permission  to  purchase  and  to  consume  strong  drink ,  the  most 
lamentable  and  disgusting  scenes  must  have  ensued.  AVe  know 
that  at  the  present  day,  wherever  we  have  a  large  number  of 
people  and  strong  drink  is  consumed,  scenes  of  drunkenness  and 
violence  are  the  result.  This  is  invariably  so,  whatever  occasion 
attracts  a  large  concourse  of  people,  whether  it  be  a  horse-race 
or  a  holy-fair.  Only  a  few  years  ago,  in  many  parts  of  Scot¬ 
land,  when  the  people  assembled  to  celebrate  the  Lord  s  Supper, 
it  became  an  occasion  for  drinking  and  drunkenness,  and  even 


208  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

the  solemnity  of  the  ordinance  appeared  to  be  no  check.  More¬ 
over  the  beverage,  shaJcar,  must  have  been  an  innocent  liquor, 
because  women  and  children ,  as  well  as  men,  were  permitted  to 
partake  of  it.  Ihere  was  evidently  no  restriction,  either  as  to 
quantity  or  person.  Now  intoxicating  liquor  of  any  kind,  and 
in  any  quantity,  is  very  injurious  to  all  classes,  but  especially  to 
women  and  children.  To  those  who  object  to  the  evident  pro¬ 
priety  of  rendering  this  word  in  accordance  with  the  context,  the 
general  scope  of  the  passage,  and  the  genius  of  the  Bible,  we 
ask,  what  right  have  you  to  adopt  this  method  in  the  rendering 
ol  the  word  lusteth ,  which  you  interpret  as  meaning,  not  unre¬ 
strained  indulgence  and  lawless  desire,  but  lawful  desire,  and 
the  proper  and  innocent  gratification  of  the  appetites? 

As  under  our  generic  term  wine*,  there  are  a  large  variety  of 
species,  as  champagne,  port,  claret,  raisin,  etc.,  so  under  the 
generic  term  yayin ,  there  were  a  great  variety  of  species. 

Tirosh ,  said  to  be  “in  the  cluster,”  was  the  produce  of  the 
vine  in  the  natural  form  of  grapes.  It  occurs  thirty-eight 
times,  and,  with  one  exception,  is  always  spoken  of  as  a  blessing. 

Whoieuom,  wine,  (yaym),  and  new-wine  ( tirosh ),  take  away 
the  heart.”  To  take  away  the  heart,  does  not  signify  to  intoxicate, 
but  to  captivate  and  to  lead  astray.  “  The  meaning  of  this  verse 
is,”  according  to  the  Westminster  Divines,  “  that  their  abundance 
makes  them  run  into  all  riot,  in  carnal,  sinful  pleasures.”  In 
every  passage  but  the  above,  tirosh  is  spoken  of  as  a  good  thing, 
and  it  is  associated  in  nearly  every  passage  with  dagan,  trans¬ 
lated  coin,  etc.,  with  yitzhar,  mistranslated  oil,  but  denoting, 
according  to  Dr.  Lees  and  many  competent  philologists,  “  orchard- 
fruit,”  as  figs,  olives,  pomegranates,  citrons,  etc. 

Ahsis  signifies  fresh  grape-juice,  or  must.  It  occurs  in  five 
passages:  Cant.  viii.  2;  Isa.  xlix.  26;  Joel  i.  5,  Joel  iii.  18; 
Amos  ix.  13.  In  Cant.  viii.  2,  it  denotes  the  juice  of  the  pome¬ 
granate,  an  innocent  beverage.  In  Joel  iii.  18,  it  is  spoken  of 
under  a  very  beautiful  figure,  having  its  counterpart  in  nature, 
the  bursting  of  ripe  grapes  as  they  hang  in  pendant  clusters  from 
the  vines,  clothing  the  mountain’s  side.  In  Joel  i.  5,  drunkards 
are  called  to  lament  because  their  supply  of  “  ahsis”  is  cut  off, 
not  because  ol  its  intoxicating  character,  but  because  this  formed 
the  necessary  basis  ol  those  drugged  and  fermented  wines  which 
they  took  so  much  pleasure  in  drinking.  In  Isa.  xlix.  26,  it  is 
associated  with  a  terrible  calamity  which  is  to  overtake  the 


MESEK — MIXED  WINE. 


209 


enemies  of  Israel.  Professor  Douglas  says: — “The  passage,  ‘They 
shall  be  drunken  with  their  own  blood  as  with  sweet-wine,’  is  no 
proof  that  must ,  which  is  intoxicating,  cannot  here  be  meant; 
for  neither  is  blood  intoxicating :  but  all  the  meaning  that  the 
xcrb  conveys  is,  to  drink  till  one  is  satiated  or  cloyed.” 

Sob  he  signifies  inspissated  wine;  that  is,  grape-juice  boiled 
down  to  a  conserve,  and  requiring  to  be  mixed  with  water  before 
it  could  be  drunk.  It  occurs  but  thrice.  Isa.  i.  22;  Ilcsea 
iv.  18;  Nahum  i.  10.  In  Isaiah  and  Ilosea  it  is  spoken  of  in  a 
connection  that  indicates  at  once  its  innocent  character.  “  Thy 
sobhe  is  mixed  with  water.”  “  Their  sobhe  is  sour.”  In  Nahum 
it  is  associated  with  drunkenness  and  destruction.  And  while 
they  are  drunken  as  drunkards,  [uk -sahvahm  sevuim ,]  and  as 
(with)  their  soveh  [rich  wine]  (they  all)  soaked.” — Temp.  Bible 
Commentary . 

Gescnius  renders  the  text — “For  perplexed  like  unto  thorns, 
and  drunken  as  with  their  wine  (sobhe)  they  shall  be  devoured 
as  stubble.”  Probably  sobhe ,  or  a  conserve  of  grapes,  was  mixed 
with  water,  and  in  this  form  used  as  a  vehicle  for  the  exhibition 
of  strong,  narcotic  drugs,  when  of  course  the  wine  would  prove 
stupefactive  and  intoxicating. 

Khemer.  This  word  signifies  the  “  foaming  blood  of  the  grape.” 
It  occurs  but  three  times  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Deut.  xxxii. 
14  ;  Ps.  lxxv.  8  ;  Isa.  xxvii.  2. 

In  Ps.  lxxv.  8,  it  is  used  as  a  verb;  yayin  khamar ,  “the 
wine  foams.”  In  Deut.  xxxii.  14,  it  is  translated  “  the  pure 
blood  of  the  grape  ;”  in  Isa.  xxvii.  2,  “  red  wine.”  “  A  vineyard 
of  foaming  juice,”  would  be  a  more  correct  rendering,  unless  tho 
real  word  be  lchemed ,  “fruitful.” 

Mesek  signifies  mixed  wine,  wine  mixed  with  water,  or  drugs. 
Says  Ilev.  W.  Ritchie: — “It  was  customary  for  the  ancients  to 
mix  their  wine  with  myrrh ,  mandragora,  opiates ,  and  other  strong 
drugs,  to  create,  or  increase  its  intoxicating  quality.  This 
drugging,  or  mixing  of  wine,  is  obviously  very  different  from  tho 
mingling  of  the  wine  by  Divine  Wisdom.  The  latter  was  a 
mingling  of  the  inspissated  grape-juice,  with  milk  or  water  to 
dilute  it,  that  it  might  be  rendered  a  mild  refreshing  beverage 
for  Wisdom’s  children.  The  former  was  a  mixing  of  the  liquor 
with  drugs  to  form  a  strong  drink  that  was  raging,  and  of  which 
God  declares,  at  the  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth 
like  an  adder.”  (Scrip.  Testimony ,  p.  169.)  Mesek ,  with  its 


210  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


related  forms  meseg  and  mimsak,  occur  four  times  as  noun?,  and 
in  a  verbal  shape  signifying  to  mingle,  five  times.  “In  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  there  is  a  cup,  and  the  win  £  foams  ;  it  is  full 
of meseJc,  mixture.”  “Who  hath  redness  of  eyes?  They  that 
tarry  long  at  the  wine  ;  they  that  go  to  seek  mimsak ,  mixed 
wine,”  wine  of  greater  intoxicating  power.  In  Isa.  lxv.  11,  we 
read,  “  But  ye  are  they  that  forsake  the  Lord,  that  forget  my 
holy  mountain,  that  prepare  a  table  for  that  troop,  and  that 
furnish  the  drink-offering  unto  that  number.”  The  literal 
rendering  of  the  Hebrew  lament  mimsahk,  is  “and  to  fortune  a 
mixture.”  Meni  was  probably  the  name  of  some  goddess  wor¬ 
shipped  by  the  idolatrous  Jews,  to  whom  a  mixture  (mimsahk) 
composed  of  wine  and  other  ingredients,  was  offered  in  sacrifice.” 
(Temp.  Bible  Com.)  '/here  is  not  a  single  passage  where  mesek 
is  spoken  of  in  terms  of  commendation  ;  but  in  each  passage  it 
is  spoken  of  in  terms  of  denunciation  and  warning. 

Shernarim  is  derived  from  shamar,  “to  preserve,”  and  has  the 
general  signification  of  “  things  preserved.”  In  Isa.  xxv.  6,  “a 
feast  of  ( wines  on)  the  lees  well  refined,”  wines  on  is  an  inter¬ 
polated  gloss.  Sometimes  the  term  is  used  merely  to  designate 
the  dregs  or  sediment  of  the  wine.  Ps.  lxxv.  8,  “  But  the  dregs 
thereof,  all  the  wicked  shall  wring  out  and  drink” (suck). 

Ashishah.  This  word,  perhaps  from  a  root  signifying  “fire,” 
denotes  a  preparation  of  dried  fruit.  “  By  universal  consent,” 
,  says  Prof.  Douglas,  “  it  is  now  understood  to  be  some  kind  of 
cake,  probably  a  cake  of  dried  fruit.”  It  occurs  in  2  Sam.  vi.  19  ; 
1  Chron.  xvi.  3  ;  Cant.  i.  5  ;  IIos.  iii.  1  :  and  is  unfortunately 
rendered  “flagons,”  and  “  flagons  of  wine.” 

In  the  New  Testament  we  have  the  following  words  translated 
wine  : 

Oinos,  a  generic  term,  the  analogue  of yayin.  It  is  applied  to 
all  sorts  of  wine.  It  occurs  in  thirty-two  passages.  “In  many 
of  these,  nothing  is  said  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  wine 
referred  to.  In  several  it  is  employed  as  an  emblem  of  Divine 
wrath.  In  a  very  few  it  is  alluded  to  as  a  blessing.”  But  in  no 
single  instance  can  we  put  our  finger  upon  any  passage,  and 
say,  here  wine  of  an  intoxicating  character  is  recommended,  or 
approved. 

Sikera ,  “  strong-drink.”  This  occurs  but  once — Luke  i.  25, 
and  the  use  of  it  is  forbidden  to  John  Baptist. 

Gleukos,  “  sweet-wine.”  This  occurs  but  once — Acts  ii.  13. 


UNFERMENTED  GRAPE- JUICE. 


211 


“  Others  mocking  said,  these  men  are  full  of  new  wine.”  It 
signifies  a  “sweet-wine,”  without  any  reference  to  its  state  as 
fermented  or  unfermented  ;  we  are  left  to  ascertain  this  by  its 
connection. 

Oxos,  “  sour-wine,”  or  vinegar,  occurs  Matt,  xxvii.  34 ;  Mark 
xv.  30;  Luke  xxiii.  36;  John  xix.  29,  30 — all  referring  to  the 
vinegar  presented  to  Jesus  on  the  cross,  and  received  by  Him 
because  unmixed  with  any  stupefying  wine,  or  other  drug. 
Temp.  Bible  Com .,  p.  42G. 

We  call  attention  here  to  the  following  facts: 

1.  That  during  the  whole  course  of  Jewish  History,  the  use 
of  unfermented  grape-juice,  and  of  other  sweet  and  unfermented 
beverages,  extensively  obtained  among  them.  This  practice  was 
not  confined  to  the  Jews,  but  it  was  a  prevailing  custom  among 
the  different  nations  with  which  they  were  called  to  associate, 
but  especially  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. — See  Wines,  Ancient 
and  Modern ,  by  Dr.  Lees. 

This  custom  of  using  the  unfermented  grape  juice  has  not  yet 
become  extinct.  The  Rev.  II.  Homes,  American  Missionary  at 
Constantinople,  says  : 

“Simple  grape-juice,  without  the  addition  of  any  earth  to  neutralize 
the  acidity,  is  boiled  from  four  to  five  hours,  so  as  to  reduce  it  to  one 
fourth  of  the  quantity  put  in.  [This  preparation  is  called  nardenk.] 
The  grapes  usually  chosen  are  the  species  naturally  sour,  or  such  as  will 
not  ripen.  After  the  boiling,  for  preserving  it  cool  and  that  it  may  be 
less  liable  to  ferment,  it  is  put  into  earthen  instead  of  wooden  vessels, 
closely  tied  over  with  skin,  to  exclude*  the  air.  Its  color  is  dark,  its 
taste  an  agreeable  sour-sweet;  and  it  is  turbid,  vegetable  gluten  bein'* 
suspended  in  it,  even  when  it  has  been  standing  for  a  long  time.  It 
ordinarily  has  not  a  particle  of  intoxicating  quality,  being  used  freely  by 
both  Mohammedans  and  Christians.  Some  which  I  have  had  on  hand 
for  two  years  has  undergone  no  change;  still,  when  not  sufficiently  boiled, 
if  exposed  to  the  air  and  heat,  it  undergoes  a  degree  of  fermentation, 
and  becomes  exhilarating  and  perhaps  intoxicating.  NARDENK  IS 
USED  AS  A  SYRUP  FOR  A  BEVERAGE,  one  part  of  the  syrup 
to  from  six  to  fifteen  of  water.  In  the  Bedelc  Seminary  it  has  been 
often  used  by  the  boys  to  eat  with  their  bread,  as  in  America  we  use 
molasses.  It  is  sold  by  all  the  grocers  of  Constantinople  at  the  same 
price,  or  cheaper  than  wine.  It  is  not  all  made  from  the  grape,  but 
some  of  it  from  apples,  and  some  of  it  from  pomegranates,  whence  it 
originally  had  its  name.  As  there  has  been  great  search  for  an  unfer¬ 
mented  wine — a  wine  that  would  not  intoxicate — as  soon  as  I  came  upon 
the  trace,  two  year’s  since,  of  such  an  article  as  nardenk,  I  most  persever- 


212  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

ingly  followed  it  up,  till  I  should  find  out  what  it  was.  For,  although 
in  the  present  use  of  language,  ah  unfermented  wine  is  an  impossibil¬ 
ity,  yet  here  is  a  cooling  grape-liquor  not  intoxicating;  and  which,  in  the 
manner  of  making  and  preserving  it,  seems  to  correspond  with  the 
recipes  and  descriptions  of  certain  drinks  included  by  some  of  the  ancients 
under  the  appellation,  wine.” 

(2.)  That  these  beverages  are  called  wine.  In  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures  the  fresh  grape-juice  is  repeatedly  designated  as  wine. 
Gen.  xlix.  11, — “  He  washed  his  garments  in  wine,  and  his  clothes 
in  the  blood  of  grapes.”  “This  is  a  striking  example  of  the  par¬ 
allelism  which  formed  one  of  the  features  and  beauties  of 
Hebrew  poetry — the  two  clauses  differing  in  language  but  corres¬ 
ponding  in  sense — ‘garments’  answering  to  ‘clothes,’  and 
‘  wine’  (yayin)  to  the  ‘blood  of  g'rapes’  (dam  anahvim).1'  (Temp. 
Bible  Com.)  Deut.  xxviii.  39, — “Thou  shalt  plant  vineyards, 
but  shalt  neither  drink  of  the  wine  (yayin),  nor  gather  the 
grapes.”  Isa.  xvi.  10, — “And  gladness  is  taken  away,  and  joy 
out  of  the  plentiful  field  ;  .  .  .  .  the  treaders  shall  tread 

out  no  wine  (yayin)  in  their  presses  ;  I  have  made  their  vintage 
shouting  to  cease.”  Here  “  wine”  applies  either  to  the  expressed 
grape  juice  as  it  flows  from  under  the  feet  of  the  treaders  in  the 
wine-vat,  or  to  the  grapes  themselves  as  containing  wine. 

The  authorized  version  also  bears  the  same  testimony  by 
translating  different  Hebrew  terms  for  must  into  wine,  new  wine, 
red  wine,  etc. 

Eminent  writers  and  lexicographers,  both  ancient  and  modern, 
also  bear  the  same  testimony. 

Columella  says,  a;  d.  55: — “You  must  make  sweet-wine 
(vinum)  in  this  manner:  gather  the  grapes,  spread  them  in  the 
sun  during  three  days ;  on  the  fourtli  at  noon,  tread  out  the 
grapes;  while  they  are  hot  take  mustum  lixivium — i.  e.  must, 
which  flows  into  the  lake  before  being  squeezed  out  with  the 
press;  when  it  has  left  off’  boiling  up,  put  well-bruised  flower-de- 
luce,  not  above  an  oz.,  into  sixty  sextarii  of  it;  rack  it  off  its  lees , 
and  pour  it  into  other  vessels.  This  wine  will  be  sweet,  firm, 
and  wholesome  for  the  body.” — Lib.  xii.  ch.  37. 

Noah  Webster,  LL.D.,  the  learned  lexicographer,  (1828),  de¬ 
fines — “  Must,  new  wine; —  wine  pressed  from  the  grape  but  not 
fermented.” — Diet,  of  the  Eng.  Lang. 

Says  Dr.  Ure,  F.  R.  S.,  an  eminent  chemist,  1836: — “Juice, 
when  newly  expressed,  and  before  it  has  begun  to  ferment ,  is 


MODERN  DRINKS.  213* 

called  must,  and  in  common  language,  sweet-wine.” — Diction¬ 
ary  of  Arts ,  p.  823. 

3.  That  wine  of  this  character  is  nowhere  condemned  in  tho 
Bible,  but  is  invariably  well  spoken  of,  and  in  many  passages  is 
represented  as  a  blessing. 

4.  That  there  was  also  in  extensive  use  among  the  Jews 
another  class  of  wines ;  wines  rendered  intoxicating  by  fermen¬ 
tation  or  drugging.  Neither  was  the  practice  confined  to  tho 
Jews  ;  it  extended  to  neighboring  nations. 

5.  That  everywhere  in  the  Bible  wines  of  this  character  are 
spoken  of  in  terms  of  condemnation  and  warning. 

We  come  now  to  inquire,  under  what  heading  must  we  rango 
the  wines  now  in  common  use?  Must  we  rank  them  with  the 
pure,  bland  juice  of  the  grape,  or  "with  those  deadly  mixed  and 
alcoholic  wines  that  experience,  revelation  and  reason  alike  con¬ 
demn  ?  There  surely  can  be  but  one  reply  !  We  must  rank  them 
with  the  deadly  mixed  wines  of  the  ancients  5  wines  that  cause 
contention  and  redness  of  eyes  ^  wines  that  deceive  and  mock 
the  drinker  5  that  bite  like  the  serpent  and  sting  like  the  adder. 

Consider  now  the  facts  in  regard  to  modern  drinks. 

4  There  are  many  wines  now  in  use,  but  in  them  there  is 
very  little  juice  of  the  grape,  a  good  deal  of  log- wood  color¬ 
ing,  sugar  of  lead,  bad  cider,  brandy,  and  other  deleterious  sub¬ 
stances.  In  London  alone,  more  port  is  consumed  than  is 
produced  by  the  entire  vintage  of  Oporto,  and  yet  London 
supplies  a  large  portion  of  the  civilized  world  with  port  1  Even 
the  imported  wines  are  fortified  and  adulterated  for  the  Eng¬ 
lish  market-,  port  wine  being  colored  with  elder-berries,  and 
receiving  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  gallons  of  strong  brandy  per 
pipe.  How  men  professing  to  be  Christians,  can  attempt  to 
defend  the  drinking  of  such  deadly  mixtures  from  the  word  of 
God,  we  do  not  understand;  for  not  one  of  them  can  be  drank 
with  safety,  not  even  our  own  home-made  wines.  Raisin  wine 
contains  about  24  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  and  ginger  wine  15  per 
cent.  Orfila,  after  describing  the  manner  in  which  wines  are 
adulterated,  says : — “A  wine  dealer  on  his  deathbed  acknow¬ 
ledged,  in  the  bitterness  of  penitential  sorrow,  that  he  had  often 
seen  his  customers  wasting  away  around  him,  poisoned  by  that 
he  had  meted  out  to  them,  and  that  same  wine  which  was  the 
cause  of  their  decline,  was  often  prescribed  by  their  physicians 
as  a  means  for  their  recovery.” 


214  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


The  class  of  liquors  in  very  extensive  use,  known  as  rum, 
whisky,  brandy,  gin,  porter,  stout  and  ale,  are,  without  excep¬ 
tion,  analogous  in  their  effects  to  the  deadly  mesek.  They  qjake 
men  drunk  and  wicked;  they  cause  redness  of  eyes;  they 
engender  disease ;  they  bite  like  serpents,  and  they  sting  like 
adders.  They  ought,  therefore,  with  the  mesek  and  condemned 
wines  of  the  Bible,  to  be  interdicted  and  banished  from  our 
midst.  It  certainly  appears  a  very  strange  perversion  of  reason¬ 
ing,  to  argue  because  the  Bible  commends  a  few  innocent  ?min- 
toxicating  preparations  of  the  grape,  or  palm-juice,  God’s 
approving  smile  will  rest  upon  the  use  of  those  deadly  drinks 
which  are  seen  to  contribute  so  much  to  swell  the  sum  of  human 
misery,  and  fill  to  overflowing  the  cup  of  the  world’s  transgres¬ 
sions  ! 

That  our  modern  drinks  are  far  more  deadly  than  those  com¬ 
monly  used  by  the  ancients,  is  very  plain.  Chemistry  has  come 
to  the  aid  of  villany,  and  deadliest  agents  are  now  so  disguised 
and  blended  as  to  give  to  the  liquors  containing  them  all  the 
flavor  and  fascination  of  the  genuine  thing,  and  yet  to  lose 
none  of  their  pernicious  properties.  The  ancients  knew  how  to 
mingle  a  little  moderation  with  their  drinking  customs,  at  least 
in  reference  to  the  strength  of  their  wines.  Their  strongest  wines 
they  mixed  with  water:  we  drink  ours  pure,  and  can  hardly  get 
them  strong  enough.  Anacreon,  who  sang  so  much  of  love  and 
wine,  says: 

“  Bring  hither,  boy,  a  mighty  bowl, 

And  let  me  quench  my  thirsty  soul; 

Fill  two  parts  water,  fill  it  high, 

Add  one  of  wine,  for  I  am  dry: 

Tims  let  the  limpid  stream  allay 
The  jolly  god’s  too  potent  sway. 

Quick,  boy,  dispatch — my  friends,  no  moro 
Tlius  let  us  drinking  rout  and  roar; 

Such  clamorous  riot  better  suits 
Unpolished  Scythia’s  barbarous  brutes: 

Let  us,  while  music  tunes  the  soul, 

Mix  temperance  in  the  flowing  bowl.” 

But,  now-a-days,  men  drink  the  strongest  and  most  fiery 
liquors,  as  though  their  stomachs  were  made  of  leather,  and  their 
sinews  of  iron,  and  then,  forsooth,  go  to  the  Bible  to  seek  a  pre¬ 
tence  for  their  shameful  and  infatuated  practices  1 


TIMOTHY. 


215 


Our  opponents  quote  against  us,  Paul’s  advice  to  Timothy, 
“Drink  no  longer  water,  but  use  a  little  wine  for  thy  stomach’s 
sake  and  thine  often  infirmities.’ ’  1  Tim.  v.  23.  This  passage 
will  not  serve  our  opponents,  for  observe: 

(1.)  Timothy  was,  previous  to  this  advice,  an  encratite ,  a 
water-drinker. 

• 

(2.)  Paul  does  not  condemn  Timothy  on  account  of  his  teeto¬ 
tal  ism,  but  rather  seeks  to  confirm  him  in  his  abstinence.  See 
1  Tim.  iii.  2-3-8. 

(3.)  Though  in  this  Paul  advises  Timothy  to  use  a  “little” 
wine,  he  does  not  comm  and  it,  and  we  have  no  record  that 
Timothy  complied  with  the  advice. 

(4.)  Though  the  use  of  wine  is  recommended,  it  is  not  recom¬ 
mended  as  a  beverage,  but  as  a  medicine,  to  be  taken  in  a  certain 
abnormal  state  of  body,  and  under  proper  restrictions.  Hence, 
before  any  person  can  apply  this  passage  to  themselves,  they 
must  ascertain  with  great  exactitude  three  particulars  :  (1.)  That 
their  stomach  complaint  and  infirmities  resemble  Timothy’s, 
and  so  lequire  the  same  treatment.  Stomach  complaints  vary 
greatly  in  different  persons,  and  the  treatment  that  may  suit  one 
kind  of  stomach  complaint  will  not  suit  another.  Alcoholic 
liquors  are  very  far  from  being  suitable  medicines  in  cases  of 
indigestion,  and,  generally  speaking,  only  aggravate  the  disorder 
or  retard  recovery.  (2.)  They  must  ascertain  that  the  wine  they 
are  about  to  gulp  down  resembles  that  which  Paul  recommended, 
both  in  its  composition  and  properties.  Any  mistake  here  may 
be  attended  with  the  greatest  disaster;  yet  unless  this  point  be 
known,  there  may  be  as  much  difference  between  the  medicinal 
properties  of  the  wine  Paul  recommended,  and  the  wine  actually 
used,  as  there  is  between  jalap  and  catechu,  or  rhubarb  and 
laudanum. 

But  if  an  argument  founded  on  general  custom  be  of  any 
value,  we  are  bound  to  believe  that  Paul  referred  Timothy  to 
one  of  those  healthful,  invigorating,  and  unintoxicating  wines 
that  cheer  and  nourish  the  system  without  producing  intoxica¬ 
tion.  These,  in  fact,  were  the  true  medicinal  wines  of  that  day. 
Athenams  says  of  the  sweet  Lesbian  : — “Let  him  take  ( gleukos ) 
sweet-wine,  either  mixed  with  water  or  warmed,  especially  that 
called  protropos,  as  being  very  good  for  the  stomach .” 

A\  hateyer  was  the  nature  of  the  wine  referred  to  in  the  above 
passage,  it  cannot  apply  to  a  large  majority  of  those  now  in  iise,» 


216  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


still  less  can  it  apply  to  ardent  spirits  or  beer.  Ardent  spirits 
were  totally  unknown  to  the  ancients.  Alcohol  was  not  dis¬ 
covered  till  above  a  thousand  years  after  Paul’s  recommendation 
of  wine,  and  ardent  spirits  did  not  come  into  general  use  till 
fifteen  centuries  after.  The  Israelites,  too,  had  no  beverage 
analogous  to  our  beer.  Palm  wine  ( sikera )  was  the  nearest 
approach  to  it,  but  then  palm  wine  is  not  beer.  (3.)  They  must 
ascertain  the  quantity  of  the  wine  to  be  taken  at  a  dose,  the 
frequency  of  its  repetition,  and  the  mode  of  its  administration. 
Concerning  all  these  particulars  the  passage  is  silent.  It  speci¬ 
fies  a  “  little,”  but  what  that  may  mean  we  cannot  tell,  see¬ 
ing  people  differ  so  greatly  upon  this  point.  One  person  may 
consider  that  a  wine-glass  full,  repeated  twice  a  day,  is  a  little  ; 
but  in  the  estimation  of  another,  a  bottle  or  two  per  day  is  a 
very  little  affair. 

It  is  objected  that  there  are  certain  passages  in  which  the 
lawfulness  and  propriety  of  moderate  drinking  are  at  least 
implied.  Such,  for  instance,  as  Eplies.  v.  18,  “Be  not  drunk 
with  wine,  wherein  is  excess 1  Tim.  iii.  8,  “Likewise  must 
the  deacons  be  grave,  not  double-tongued,  not  given  to  much 
wine,  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre.”  Titus  ii.  3,  “  The  aged 
women  likewise,  that  they  be  in  behavior  as  becometh  holiness, 
not  false  accusers,  not  given  to  much  wine,  teachers  of  good 
things.” 

It  is  urged  that  excess  only  is  deprecated,  and  therefore  the 
moderate  use  is  impliedly  allowed. 

We  reply :  That  this  principle  of  interpretation  is  unsound, 
and  that,  if  generally  adopted,  it  would  give  encouragement  to 
every  species  of  abomination. 

If,  when  we  are  exhorted  not  to  be  given  to  much  wine,  the 
meaning  is,  that  we  arc  to  take  some ,  then,  when  in  Bible 
language  wo  are  exhorted  not  to  be  overcharged  with  surfeiting 
and  drunkenness,  the  meaning  is,  we  may  practise  such  excesses 
to  some  extent !  If  so,  when  in  Bible  language  we  are  exhorted, 
“  Be  not  drunk  with  wine  wherein  is  excess,”  the  meaning  is, 
though  excess  in  the  use  of  wine  is  condemned,  yet  it  is 
permissible  to  get  drunk  with  beer  or  spirit,  and,  though 
to  get  excessively  drunk  is  forbidden,  it  is  allowable  to  indulge 
in  the  incipient  stages  of  inebriation.  Or,  when  the  Bible 
says,  “  Be  not  over-much  wicked,”  the  meaning  is,  that  whilst 
we  are  not  to  run  into  great  extremes  of  wickedness,  yet  it  is 


NEW  WINE  AND  OLD  BOTTLES. 


217 


quite  right  to  sin  in  moderation,  and  to  commit  ourselves 
to  the  milder  acts  of  transgression.  Again,  when  Isaiah 
says,  “  Woe  unto  them  that  rise  up  early  in  the  morning ,  that 
they  may  follow  strong  drink ;  that  continue  until  night  till 
wine  inflame  them,” — the  meaning  is,  that  whilst  we  are  not 
to  indulge  in  early  or  late  drinking,  or  to  continue  drinking  from 
morning  till  night,  it  is  quite  proper  to  drink  in  the  middle  of 
the  day,  or  at  intervals  during  the  day! 

But,  second ,  the  above  passages  contain  a  mode  of  expression 
very  common  in  all  languages,  and  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
aphorisms  and  proverbs;  a  mode  of  expression  that  does  not 
confer  a  license  to  do,  or  to  neglect,  that  which  is  not  expressed. 
“When  alone,  we  have  our  thoughts  to  watch,  in  our  families 
our  tempers,  and  in  society,  our  tongues.”  This  does  not  mean 
that  we  are  not  to  watch  our  thoughts,  tongues,  and  tempers, 
elsewhere.  We  are  merely  set  upon  our  guard  as  to  the  faults  to 
which  we  are  most  liable,  under  the  circumstances  specified.  In 
private,  the  great  danger  to  avoid  is  wrong  thinking ;  in  our 
families,  wrong  tempers ;  in  public,  rash  and  wrong  words. 
And  so  when  we  read,  “  And  be  not  drunk  with  wine  wherein  is 
excess ;  but  be  filled  with  the  Spirit,” — it  does  not  mean  that  a 
little  drinking  is  compatible  with  being  filled  with  the  Spirit, 
but  that  we  are  to  seek  our  satisfaction  in  the  Spirit  of  God 
filling  our  hearts,  and  not  in  wine  filling  our  stomachs  and 
stupefying  our  senses. 

It  is  ol  jected  that  the  new  wine  of  the  Bible  must  have  been 
intoxicating  ;  and  that,  as  this  kind  of  wine  is  frequently  spoken 
of  in  terms  of  commendation,  it  cannot  be  a  sin  to  partake  of  it. 
Luke  v.  37-39, — “  And  no  man  putteth  new  wine  into  old  bottles  ; 
else  the  new  wine  will  burst  the  bottles,  and  be  spilled,  and  the 
bottles  shall  perish.  But  new  wine  must  be  put  into  new 
bottles ;  and  both  are  preserved.  No  man  also  having  drunk 
old  wine  straightway  desireth  new:  for  he  saith,  The  old  is 
better.” 

“And  no  man  putteth  new  wine  into  old  bottles.”  Why? 
Because  the  new  wine,  being  in  a  state  of  fermentation  before 
being  put  into  old  bottles,  would  be  sure  to  burst  them? 
Certainly  not;  for  this  would  equally  apply  to  the  new 
bottles.  Grape-juice  in  a  state  of  fermentation  would  burst  the 
strongest  hide  of  which  bottles  cquld  be  made,  if  no  vent  was 
allowed  for  the  accumulated  carbonic-acid-gas  to  escape.  The 
19 


218  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


explanation  is  to  be  found  in  the  state  of  the  old  bottle. 
Certain  glutinous  particles  from  its  former  contents  had  got 
deposited  upon  the  inside  of  it,  and  those  being  exposed  to  the 
atmosphere,  had  become  the  soil  for  the  yeast  plant:  so  that, 
when  new  wine  was  poured  into  the  bottle,  fermentation  would 
at  once  begin,  accumulations  of  carbonic  acid-gas  would  follow, 
and  burst  the  bottle.  If,  however,  new  wine  is  put  into  new 
bottles,  no  fermentation  would  be  communicated,  and  the 
atmospheric  air  being  carefully  excluded,  both  the  new  wine  and 
the  new  bottles  would  be  preserved. 

In  reference  to  old  wine  being  better  than  new,  this  applies 
with  very  great  force  to  the  imfermented  wines,  which  improve 
by  age.  “Mr.  Wright’s  passover  wine  [made  of  the  pure  un¬ 
fermented  grape-juice,  and  presefved  in  vacuo ]  is  found  to  ira- 
. prove  in  flavor  by  keeping,  though  no  chemical  change,  and 
certainly  no  fermentation  occurs.  An  explanation  may  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  original  aromas  of  the  grape,  fine  and 
subtle  particles,  being  by  the  act  of  crushing  mingled  with  the 
saccharine  and  albuminous  matters,  become  less  perceptible  to  the 
palate;  but,  by  being  kept,  they  are  mechanically  separated 
again,  and  so  impart  a  fuller  and  distincter  flavor  by  first 
touching  the  nerves  of  taste.” — Temp.  Bible  Com.,  p.  294. 

It  is  objected  that  the  Bible  nowhere  enjoins  abstinence,  and 
therefore,  teetotalism  is  anti-scriptural. 

We  have  driven  the  objectors  from  their  special  grounds,  and 
they  seek  a  last  refuge  here.  To  show  the  fallacy  of  this 
objection,  we  will  put  it  in  the  form  of  a  syllogism. 

Whatever  is  not  enjoined  in  the  Bible  is  anti-scriptural,  and  opposed  to 
the  will  of  God. 

Teetotalism  is  not  enjoined  in  the  Bible;  therefore  teetotalism  is  anti- 
scriptural,  and  opposed  to  the  will  of  God. 

Where  lies  the  fallacy?  The  minor  proposition  maybe  dis¬ 
puted,  but  not  the  conclusion,  as  a  conclusion.  The  fallacy 
evidently  lies  in  the  assumption  of  the  major,  as  the  following 
will  show. 

Whatever  is  not  enjoined  in  the  Bible  is  anti-scriptural,  and  opposed  to 
the  will  of  God. 

But  Sunday-schools,  soup-kitchens,  penitentiaries  for  fallen  girls,  ragged 
schools,  hospitals,  the  abolition  of  slavery,  etc.,  are  not  enjoined  in  the 
Bible. 

Therefore  they  are  anti-scriptural,  and  opposed  to  the  will  of  God. 


BIBLE  PRINCIPLES.  219 

Let  us,  however,  amend  the  major  proposition,  and  see  then 
how  it  will  apply. 

Whatever  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  and  object  of  the  Bible,  is 
anti-scriptural,  and  opposed  to  the  will  of  God. 

Slavery,  polygamy,  and  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  are  not  in  har¬ 
mony  with  the  spirit  and  object  of  the.Bible. 

Therefore  they  are  anti-scriptural,  and  opposed  to  the  will  of  God. 

Here  we  have  no  fallacy.  The  major  proposition  is  evidently 
and  indisputably  correct,  and  so  are  the  minor,  and  the  conclu¬ 
sion.  Let  us,  however,  take  the  proposition  out  of  the  negative 
form,  and  present  it  in  the  affirmative. 

Whatever  is  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  and  spirit  of  the  Bible,  is  in 
accordance  with  the  will  of  God. 

Teetotalism  is  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  and  spirit  of  the  Bible. 

Therefore  teetotalism  is  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God. 

Here  the  major  proposition  is  self-evident  to  all  who  accept 
the  Bible  as  a  revelation  from  God.  In  chapter  vi.  we  have 
clearly  shown  that  teetotalism  is  in  harmony  with  the  general 
teachings  and  spirit  of  the  Bible.  Hence  the  conclusion  follows 
as  a  logical  necessity. 

In  regard  to  the  assumption,  that  whatever  is  not  expressly 
enjoined  in  the  Bible  is  opposed  to  its  spirit  and  aims,  we  must 
remember  that  it  is  not  a  book  of  details.  It  does  not  lay  down 
special  precepts  to  guide  us  in  all  those  multitudinous  circum¬ 
stances  under  which  mankind  may  be  placed.  Why,  the  world 
itself  would  not  hold  such  a  book,  and  to  master  it,  we  should 
have  to  attain  to  the  years  of  Methuselah. 

The  Bible  in  the  main,  is  a  book  of  grand  and  broad  principles, 
easily  applied  to  the  circumstances  of  life.  These  principles  are 
but  few  in  number,  easy  to  understand  and  remember.  And 
what  the  sincere  Christian  should  inquire,*  is  this: — Is  the 
temperance  enterprise  in  harmony  with  these  principles,  or 
opposed  to  them?  If  the  former,  our  duty  is  plain  and  unmis¬ 
takable.  If  the  latter,  our  duty  is  equally  plain  and  unmistaka¬ 
ble.  When  the. parliament  of  Tahiti  consulted  the  queen  respect¬ 
ing  the  admission  of  intoxicating  drinks,  she  said,  ‘‘Let  the 
principles  contained  in  the  New  Testament  be  the  foundation 
of  all  your  proceedings;”  and  immediately  they  enacted  a  law 
against  trading  with  any  vessel  that  brought  ardent  spirits. 
It  was  not  so  much  any  isolated  text,  as  “ the  principles ”  of 
the  book  generally,  that  guided  their  determination.  They  saw 


220  TEETOTALISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


that  love  to  God  and  man  is  the  grand  principle  of  the  hook,  and 
that  this  love  enjoins  us  to  do  nothing  which  would  prove  the 
means,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  making  a  brother  stumble,  offend, 
or  become  weak,  or  fall  into  sin. 

The  attentive  investigation  of  the  Bible  aspect  of  the  tem¬ 
perance  question  has  led  us  to  the  following  conclusions: 

1.  — That  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  nowhere  recom¬ 
mended,  sanctioned,  or  commanded  in  Scripture. 

2.  — That  many  cautions  are  dealt  out  against  the  use  of  drinks 
that  intoxicate,  and,  in  many  passages  such  use  is  strictly  con¬ 
demned  and  prohibited. 

3.  — That  abstinence  from  the  use  of  wine  and  strong  drink,  is 
nowhere  condemned  in  the  Bible._ 

4.  — That  in  many  passages  this  practice  receives  commenda¬ 
tion,  and  in  several  instances  is  actually  enforced. 

5.  — That,  as  regards  temperance,  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  are 
in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  experience  and  the  deductions 
of  science. 

6.  — That,  therefore,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  all  who  profess  to 
accept  the  Bible  as  a  revelation  from  God,  to  abide  by  its  deci¬ 
sions,  and  to  do  all  they  can,  both  by  their  personal  example  and 
social  influence,  to  secure  the  success  of  the  temperance  move¬ 
ment. 


MAIN E-LAW  PARISHES. 


227 


the  evil  to  be  removed,  and  has  never  yet  failed,  when  applied 
according  to  the  prescription.  If,  however,  there  be  remissness 
in  the  application,  then  to  that  extent  intemperance  and  its 
consequent  evils  will  creep  in.  We  have  a  striking  example  of 
this  in  the  experience  of  Saltaire,  a  town  of  ftiur  thousand  in¬ 
habitants,  situate  in  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire.  Saltaire 
belongs  to  Sir  Titus  Salt,  Bart.,  and  all  the  workmen  are  in  his 
employ.  A  desire  to  promote  the  physical  comfort  and  the 
social  and  moral  well-being  of  the  people,  induced  this  gentleman 
to  banish  the  liquor  traffic  from  the  town.  This  was  attended 
with  the  best  results — the  absence  of  drunkenness,  crime  and 
pauperism.  The  people  were  characterized  by  their  industry 
and  thrift,  and  their  homes  became  a  reflection  of  their  own 
habits,  presenting  an  air  of  cleanliness  and  comfort. 

After  a  time,  however,  a  number  of  working  men  from  a 
distance,  being  employed  to  carry  out  certain  improvements  in 
the  town,  raised  an  outcry  at  being  deprived  of  their  customary 
potations.  To  meet  their  wishes  five  grocers  were  authorized  to 
take  out  licenses  for  table-beer,  not  to  be  drunk  on  the  premises. 
The  natural  effects  were  soon  visible,  in  insubordination  among 
the  men  and  drunkenness  among  the  women.  This  state  of 
things  led  Sir  Titus  Salt  to  forbid  the  grocers  taking  out  their 
license  a  second  year,  and  when  the  beer  ceased  to  be  sold,  order 
and  sobriety  resumed  their  reign. 

In  fact,  the  whole  history  of  the  liquor  traffic  shows  that 
the  amount  of  intemperance  depends  exactly  upon  the  facili¬ 
ties  for  obtaining  intoxicating  liquor; — that  restrictive  measures, 
just  in  proportion  to  their  stringency,  diminish  drunkenness; 
and  that  when  such  restrictions  are  relaxed,  drunkenness  in¬ 
creases  ; — but  that  total  prohibition  only  can  entirehj  remove 
the  evils. 

There  are  hundreds  of  parishes  and  villages  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  in  which  magistrates  and  landed  proprietors,  from  a 
profound  conviction  of  the  manifold  evils  flowing  from  the  liquor 
traffic,  have  entirely  suppressed  it. 

In  the  province  of  Canterbury  alone  there  are  nearly  one 
thousand  four  hundred  of  such  districts ;  and  what  is  the 
unanimous  testimony  concerning  them?  Why,  “That  the 
people  are  characterized .  by  sobriety  and  good  conduct — that 
crime  and  pauperism  are  great  rarities — that  the  people  are 
perfectly  satisfied  with  the  absence  of  the  traffic,  and  that  they 


228  COD  S  REMEDY  FOE  THE  WORLD’S  GREAT  CURSE. 

will  not  even  trouble  themselves  to  go  to  the  neighboring  village 

perhaps  only  a  couple  of  miles  distant,  for  the  purpose  of  obtain¬ 
ing  drink.” 

We  cite  the  following  from  the  Appendix  of  the  Report  on 

Intemperance,  of  the  Lower  House  of  Convocation  of  Canter- 
burv. 

%/  . 


2063—' ‘There  is  no  public-house  or  beei  shop,  I  am  glad  to  be 
•able  to  say,  in  this  parish.  Of  this  the  good  is  great,  the  inconvenience 
n  any,  in  comparison  exceedingly  small.  It  promotes,  almost  ensures’ 
sobnety  and  temperance.  Were  there  any  beer-drinking  shops  many 
would  be  tempted  by  the  company,  as  much  as  by  the  beer,  to  spend 
portions  of  their  earnings  there,  who  now  go  home  to  their  house-keep¬ 
ing.  The  village  is  very  quiet  and  orderly.  The  constable’s  office  is  a 
sinecure,  and  a  drunken  man  a  very  rare  sight.  If  any  one  will  or  must 
buy  beer,  he  can  send  or  go  to  a  public-house  a  mile  and  a  half  distant 

in  another  parish  —the  inconvenience  of  which  is  not  insurmountable,  and 
is  a  useful  check.'’ 

,  \  •  •  “  during  the  eighteen  years  I  have 

een  in  this  parish  the  health  of  the  people  has  been  unusually  good. 

’  ‘  .  •  mi  There  has  not  been  one  serious  injury  in  it  during  the 

whole  period.  The  morals  of  the  people  are  so  free  from  any  gross 
stains,  that  I  am  at  tunes  afraid  of  their  suffering  spiritually  from  their 
t  unking  too  highly  of  themselves.  They  furnish  no  cases  for  the  parish 
constable  or  policeman.  Men  working  on  the  roads  leave  their  tools 
by  the  wayside  when  they  return  home  for  the  night,  without  any  fear 
of  not  finding  them  there  in  the  morning.  The  people,  without  exception 
are  decently  clothed,  and  there  has  been  no  case  of  insolvency  since  1 came 
here.  By  applying  to  the  landowners,  I  have  succeeded  in  persuading 
them  /o  suppress  three  becr-shoRS  in  neighboring  parishes,  and 
prevented  the  establishment  of  another  which  was  attempted.  There 
are  therefore,  now  contiguous  parishes  here  without  public-houses- 
and  very  favorably  can  I  report  of  those  with  which  I  am  not  officially 
connected.  The  improvement  which  results  from  the  absence  of  these 
temptations  in  our  parish  extends  into  other  parishes  around  it,  and  the 
change  in  the  last  eighteen  years  for  miles  around  is  very  evident, 

...  I  have  ministered  in  large  towns,  and  know  somethin®  of  the 
sins  and  sorrows  that  abound  there  through  this  one  cause.  If  This  evil 

r,,pone  Z^rM  r'r,mt  “igU  We  °°‘  expectthe  infhlen“  °f  *° 

22(52— ••  The  good  influence ’observable  in  my  parish  may  be  inferred 
when  mention  the  total  absence  of  crime.  /  have  neve!  heard  oj  a 

y°f  nn'.?g  or.P°achin9  brought  against  any  of  my  people, 

O  01  wing  in  ie  midst  of  well-stocked  preserves;  there  are  no 

°  .U"rUy  T"8  men  t0  be  SeCn  loiterinS  about  the  lanes  on  a 
Sunday— there  is  always  a  good  attendance  at  church  on  that  day;  the 


CONVOCATION  REPORT  ON  INTEMPERANCE.  229 

ordinances  of  religion  are  generally  well  observed.  .... 
Although  the  parish  is  poor,  the  offertory,  collected  monthly,  from  the 
whole  congregation,  far  exceeds  the  wants  ot  the  sick  and  the  aged,  so  that 
we  are  able  to  give  yearly  to  missionary  objects.  The  cottagers  are  well 
clothed,  and  the  majority  of  them  are  in  a  position  to  keep  a  cow  and  a 
pig,  and  several  of  the  young  laborers  have  sums  of  money  in  the  savings 
bank.  We  have  a  cricket  club  in  the  parish,  and  I  attribute  the  orderly 
behavior  of  the  members  to  a  rule  of  their  own,  forbidding  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  strong  drink  to  the  field  ;  il  there  had  been  a  beer-shop,  I 
should  probably  have  failed  in  this  plan  of  providing  amusement  for  the 
young  men  during  the  summer  months;  the  love  of  the  game,  not  the 
opportunity  of  drinking,  now  attracts  them,  and  on  leaving  the  field  they 
invariably  go  quietly  home.  .  .  We  have  not  a  single  pauper 

in  the  workhouse,  and  no  recipient  of  out-door  relief  from  among  the 
poor  of  the  parish — in  short,  we  may  be  called  a  prosperous  community. 

As  a  .rule  the  men’s  wages  (11s.  and  12s.  per  week)  are 
brought  to  the  wives  on  the  days  of  payment.  .  .  I  have  ne\er 

known  a  case  of  poverty  or  ill-health  brought  on  by  intemperance  since 
my  residence  here.” 

The  following  affords  a  series  of  contrasts  in  which  a  Maine- 
law  village  shows  to  decided  advantage  : 

2273.—“  For  six  years  I  was  incumbent  of  a  parish  with  a  popula¬ 
tion  of  between  three  and  four  hundred  persons,  in  which  there  was 
neither  public-house  nor  beer-shop;  and  during  the  whole  of  my  in¬ 
cumbency  I  never  encountered  a  single  case  of  intemperance  amongst  my 
people,  who  were  industrious,  orderly,  and  well  conducted  in  all 
respects;  though  not  all  belonging  to  the  National  Church,  attentive 
to  the  ordinances  and  duties  of  religion.  For  the  last  fifteen  years  I 
have  been  pastor  of  a  parish,  of  which  the  population  amounts  to  one 
thousand  five  hundred,  and  though  during 'the  present  incumbency  the 
parish  church  has  been  rebuilt,  and  tAvo  chapels  of  ease,  in  sepai  ate 
hamlets,  have  been  erected,  the  accommodation  in  all  these  being  free 
and  unappropriated,  ample  schools  adequate  to  the  requirements  ot  the 
whole  population  provided — an  institute,  a  cricket  club,  cottage  allot¬ 
ments  for  all  who  require  them,  a  female  friendly  society,  clothing  and 
medical  clubs,  village  choir,  penny  readings, _  and  cheap  concerts  sup¬ 
plied  ;— and  the  pastoral  staff  consists  of  a  rector  and  two  curates, 
supplemented  by  a  body  of  benevolent  and  active  distiict  visitors,  the 
public-houses  being  under  no  control  as  to  numbers  or  conduct,  much 
intemperance,  with  all  its  attendant  evils  of  poverty,  wife-beating ,  neglected 
households,  disregard  among  the  working  classes  of  religion,  prevails;  and 
within  a-fcw  mouths  four  cases  of  sudden  death,  caused  by  intemperance, 
have  occurred.” 

Ireland  illustrates  the  same  truth.  In  a  district  of  Tyrone, 

20 


230  god’s  remedy  for  the  world’s  great  curse. 

sixty  one  and  a  half  square  miles  in  extent,  from  which  all  the 
whisky-shops  have  been  cleared  off,  the  poor-rates  have  im¬ 
mensely  diminished,  the  police-station  has  been  removed,  and 
the  people  live  in  comparative  comfort. 

So  in  Bcssbrook,  a  town  containing  a  population  of  about  three 
thousand  persons,  pleasantly  situate  in  the  county  of  Armagh. 
The  sole  proprietor  of  the  town  is  Mr.  John  Grubb  Richardson, 
of  Moyallen,  a  leading  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 
The  people  are  all  in  his  own  employ,  most  of  them  being  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  flax-spinning  mill.  Mr.  Richardson,  both  in  the 
construction  of  the  town,  in  the  house  accommodation,  and  in 
the  different  establishments,  as  reading-room,  library,  schools, 
and  dispensary,  has  paid  strict  regard  to  the  physical  and  moral 
well-being  of  the  employes.  *  The  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
town,  however,  is  the  absence  of  drink-shops,  and  consequently 
the  absence  of  crime,  pauperism,  pawn-shops,  and  policemen. 
There  are  two  cooperative  stores  in  the  place  belonging  to  the 
workers — one  to  adults,  and  the  other  solely  to  juveniles  of  the 
Band  of  Hope,  who  are  its  only  shareholders.  Both  are  well- 
conducted,  and  pay  good  dividends.  Each  •  employe  pays  so 
much  a  week  to  a  sick  fund,  which  is  supplemented  by  Mr. 
Richardson  to  the  amount  of  £150  per  annum.  This  entitles 
each  member,  in  case  of  sickness,  to  medical  attendance  free  of 
cost,  and  to  half  the  ordinary  wages  during  the  time  such  sick- 
ness  continues.  Now,  though  the  inhabitants  are  all  Irish,  there 
is  no  quarrelling,  and  no  filth}'-  apartments,  with  chickens  and 
pigs  as  joint  occupiers. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  numerous  villages  in  the  king¬ 
dom,  possessing  equal,  or  superior  advantages,  with  this  one 
drawback  only,  the  liquor  traffic  exists  in  their  midst, — and 
what  is  their  condition?  Why,  with  the  sale  of  intoxicatin'* 
l.quor,  crime  and  pauperism  abound.  Children  are  uncared  for 
and  uneducated.  Homes  are  untidy,  sounds  of  strife  continually 
resound  from  them  ;  whilst  acts  of  violence  and  immorality  are 
frequently  perpetrated. 

AVe  may  here  refer  to  two  villages  in  Northumberland,  pos¬ 
sess. ng  many  features  in  common.  The  one  C - ge,  the  other 

C - o;  both  are  pleasantly  situate;  the  surrounding*  scenery 

picturesque  and  beautiful,  though  the  former  has  the  advantage, 
l^oth  have  railway  communication  with  considerable  towns  a  few 


ADULTERATION. 


235 


means  that  ought  to  be  devoted  to  increasing  the  comforts  of  his 
home-life,  and  when,  in  his  madness  and  infatuation,  he  strips 
his  home  of  furniture  and  sells  it  for  the  sake  of  drink,  how  can 
he  expect  his  weeping  and  despairing  wife  to  make  it  cheerful 
ajid  comfortable?  No  doubt  there  are  instances  where  un¬ 
thrifty  and  gossiping  wives,  careless  of  their  husbands’  welfare, 
neglect  the  duties  of  their  domestic  condition-,  whose  homes  are 
never  tidy,  and  who  never  greet  with  a  genial  smile  their 
partner  returning  from  daily  toil;  homes  which  husbands 
naturally  forsake  for  the  tap-room,  in  which  they  meet  with  con¬ 
viviality,  a  smiling  landlady,  and  a  cheerful  blaze ;  but,  for 
every  drunkard  made  by  a  comfortless  home,  there  are  a  hun¬ 
dred  comfortless  homes  made  by  drunkenness. 

4.— It  is  the  adulteration  that  does  all  the  mischief,  say  others. 
Doubtless  in  this  traffic  adulteration  prevails  to  a  much  larger 
extent  than  in  any  other. 

Our  beer  is  adulterated,  our  gin  is  adulterated,  and  our  wines 
are  adulterated.  There  are  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  thou¬ 
sands  of  unprincipled  manufacturers  and  vendors,  who,  callous 
to  the  miseries  and  diseases  th.ey  inflict,  resort  to  the  most  exten¬ 
sive  and  pernicious  adulterations. 

Mr.  Wadhams,  a  town  councillor  of  Birmingham,  formerly  a 
licensed  victualler  of  twenty  years’  standing,  and  now  president 
of  the  United  Towns  Association  of  Licensed  Victuallers,  was 
examined  on  Monday,  June  22d,  1868,  before  the  Select  Parlia¬ 
mentary  Committee,  on  J.  A.  Smith’s  Bill  for  closing  Public- 
houses  on  Sunday.  He  stated,  “  That  when  he  was  in  the  trade 
he  gave  135.  per  gallon  for  gin,  and  sold  it  retail  at  16s.,  but  not 
of  the  same  strength  as  he  received  it.  He  thought  he  had  a 
right  to  object  to  tell  what  he  put  into  it.” 

This  system  of  adulteration  has  become  so  intimately  inter¬ 
woven  with  this  traffic,  that  we  believe  nothing  save  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  traffic  can  remedy  it. 

But  suppose  we  could  succeed  in  putting  an  end  to  these 
villanics,  should  we  by  this  means  cure  intemperance?  No! 
Alcohol  has  a  certain  specific  action  of  its  own  upon  the  human 
body,  whether  it  be  taken  in  the  form  of  fermented,  vinous,  or 
spirituous  liquor.  It  is  true  the  numerous  deadly  agents  added 
to  it  must  enhance  its  dangerous  and  destructive  properties  ;  but 
apart  from  them,  alcohol  will  poison  the  body,  inflame  the 
passions,  pervert  the  mind,  and  deaden  the  conscience ;  and 


236  god’s  remedy  for  the  world’s  great  curse. 


though  we  were  to  provide  the  people  with  purely  alcoholic 
liquors,  the  tide  of  drunkenness  would  still  roll  on. 

5.  — Home  drinking ,  say  others,  will  cure  drunkenness. 

If  this  remedy  be  worth  anything,  we  may  expect  that  those 
people  who  get  drink  into  their  own  houses,  and  consume  it  there, 
will  be  models  of  sobriety.  But  is  this  the  case?  It  is  a  most 
indisputable  fact,  that  home  drinking  is  very  prevalent  among 
the  middle  and  upper  classes,  especially  among  the  ladies,  and  so 
is  home  drunkenness.*  Then  if  home  drinking  be  not  a  remedy 
for  the  favored  wealthy  classes,  how  can  we  expect  it  to  be  a 
remedy  for  the  toiling  millions?  Were  this  plan  carried  out,  it 
would  prove  an  unmitigated  curse,  greatly  enhancing  the  horrors 
of  drunkenness,  and  corrupting  nearly  every  home  in  the  coun¬ 
try.  If  we  are  to  have  drunkenness,  by  all  means  let  us  confine 
it  as  much  as  possible  to  the  public-house  and  the  beer-shop,  and 
keep  it  as  far  as  possible  from  the  homes  of  the  people. 

6.  — Another  proposed  remedy  is  this: — “Drunkenness  pro¬ 
ceeds  from  the  deceitful  and  wicked  heart  of  man.  Preach  the 
gospel,  and  you  will  strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil  and  remove  it.” 

Now  if  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  be  a  remedy  for  drunken¬ 
ness,  how  are  we  to  account  for  the  fact  that  the  nations  of 
Christendom  are  the  most  drunken  nations  in  the  world,  after  the 
gospel  has  been  preached  among  them  for  nearly  two  thousand 
years?  Also,  that  thousands  of  professing  Christians  who  once 
enjoyed  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  and  were  made  partakers  of 
its  hopes  and  joys,  have  fallen  through  strong  drink?  Now  those 
who  put  the  gcspel  forward  as  a  remedy  for  intemperance  are 
bound  to  solve  these  queries.-}*  If  they  answer  that  those  who 
fell,  never  practically  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  wo 
reply,  that  this  is  a  gratuitous  assumption  which  they  can  by  no 
means  prove.  We  have  known  scores  of  persons  that  gave  every 
proof  of  genuine  conversion,  who  yet,  misled  by  doctors,  or 
wrongly  influenced  by  ministers,  or  yielding  to  the  pressing  invi¬ 
tations  of  friends,  have  taken  strong  drink  and  become  drunken. 

The  gospel  is  a  remedy  for  intemperance,  if  properly  under¬ 
stood  and  applied;  but  as  at  present  taught,  by  a  very  larn;e 
majority  of  Christian  ministers  and  Christian  men,  it  is  simply 
no  remedy  at  all. 

*  See  the  Saturday  Keview,  Jan.  21, 1871,  art.  “Drawing  Room  Alcoholism  »* 
•—Ed. 

f  In  this  argument  the  reader  must  never  forget  the  difference  between 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  gospel  accepted.— Ed. 


THE  GOSPEL. 


237 


What  is  the  gospel?  In  its  widest  sense  it  is  that  com¬ 
prehensive  system  of  morality  and  those  sublime  doctrines 
contained  in  the  New  Testament.  The  whole  tenor  of  the 
gospel,  and  many  of  its  expressed  declarations,  enjoin  abstinence 
from  evil,  and  from  things  that  tend  to  demoralize  and  destroy. 
It  is  only  as  we  clearly  discern  this,  and  will  its  application  to  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  that  the  gospel  can  prove  a  remedy 
for  the  curse  of  intemperance.  But,  if  we  Regard  the  gospel 
purely  as  a  system  of  moral  suasion,  entirely  overlooking  physical 
circumstances  and  conditions ,  then  it  can  by  no  means  prove  a 
remedy.  Why?  Because  we  have  great  political  and  physical 
causes  to  fight  against,  which,  so  long  as  they  continue  to  operate, 
our  noblest  efforts  to  reclaim  the  drunkard  must  in  a  great 
measure  fail. 

The  political  cause  of  intemperance  consists  of  the  numerous 
legalized  facilities  for  obtaining  intoxicating  liquor — the  physical 
cause  is  the  contact  of  intoxicating  liquor  with  man  s  physical 
organism,  corrupting  and  perverting  it,  and  inducing  mental 
and  moral  perversion.  However  eloquently  we  may  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  people,  however  earnestly  we  may  urge  its  claims 
home  upon  them,  so  long  as  the  use  of  strong  drink  continues, 
just  so  long  will  intemperance  and  all  its  deadly  fruits  abound, 
defying  alike  the  efforts  of  moralists  and  ministers. 

Even  those  who  offer  the  gospel  as  a  panacea  for  intempe¬ 
rance,  must  admit  that  it  can  only  prove  so  to  those  who  accept 
it.  But  how  few  these  are ! — while  intemperance  itself  is  the 
great  barrier  to  its  acceptance  on  the  part  of  the  man^r.  lhis 
shows  the  absolute  necessity  of  our  adopting  some  other  means 
to  remove  this  great  evil j  and  if  we  look  at  it  purely  as  a  religious 
question,  this  appears  the  more  binding.  If  we  really  wish  the 
people  to  accept  the  truths  of  Christianity,  and  to  conform  their 
lives  to  its  principles,  we  must  remove  out  of  the  way  these 
practical  obstacles.  Who  doubts  that  intemperance  is  the 
great  harrier?  In  this  sense,  a  John  the  Baptist  is  as  necessaiy 
at  the  present  day  as  at  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 
The  temperance  enterprise  is  this  forerunner.  It  goes  before  to 
level  the  mountains  and  to  exalt  the  valleys,  to  make  the  crooked 
paths  straight  and  the  rough  places  plain,  and  by  clearing  from 
the  intellect  and  conscience  the  fumes  of  drink,  it  prepares  the 
way  for  the  reception  of  the  gospel,  and  for  the  full  play  of  its 
ennobling  and  spiritualizing  power. 


238  god’s  remedy  for  the  world’s  great  curse. 


7.  — Another  says:  “Lotus  have  free  trade  in  strong  drink, 
and  visit  all  drunkards  with  condign  punishment.” 

This  is  not  even  a  palliative,  for  it  directly  aggravates  the 
malady.  The  Liverpool  magistrates  tried  it,  and  with  what 
result?  Why,  the  most  reckless  drunkenness  and  shameless 
profligacy,  attended  with  crimes  the  most  revolting,  a  wide  spread 
pauperism,  and  numerous  and  fatal  diseases.  The  drink  curse 
so  stamped  itself  upon  Liverpool,  as  to  earn  for  it  the  descriptive 
epithet — “ That  dark  spot  upon  the  Mersey .” 

When  a  kind  of  free  trade  measure  was  passed,  during  the 
reign  of  George  II.  (1732),  repealing  the  £20  license,  and  per¬ 
mitting  the  retail  sale  of  spirits  in  dwelling-houses,  thus  convert¬ 
ing  every  householder  into  a  publican,  the  most  reckless  intem¬ 
perance  was  the  result.  The  parliamentary  history  of  the  period 
records  the  fact,  that  signs  were  publicly  hoisted  :  “  Drunk  for  one 
penny ;  dead  drunk  for  twopence;  clean  straw  for  nothing.” 

As  to  punishing  the  drunkard,  allows  us  to  remind  the  objector 
that  he  is  punished  already.  Why  should  we  seek  to  inflict 
upon  him  further  torments?  History  and  experience  alike 
declare  the  futility  of  “  punishment.” 

The  Rev.  W.  Caine,  M.A.,  Chaplain  of  the  County  Gaol  for 
the  Salford  Hundred,  in  his  Report  for  October  25th,  1809, 
makes  this  statement: 

“The  most  painful  sight  in  the  world,  for  a  chaplain,  is  to  see 
prisoners  returning  frequently  to  gaol,  and  especially  to  see  women  lost 
to  all  sense  of  shame,  utterly  regardless  of  the  disgrace  attached  to 
imprisonment,  and  totally  abandoned  to  the  horrid  vice  and  crime  of 
drinking  these  poisonous  liquors.  One  woman  here  is  knowD  to  have 
been  in  prison  75  times,  and  an  old  man  92  times.  Women,  after  being 
ten  times  in  prison,  come  back  more  frequently  than  men.  159  women 
and  139  men  have  been  previously  in  gaol  more  than  ten  times;  70 
women  and  125  men,  eight,  nine,  or  ten  times;  76  females  and  158 
males,  six  or  seven  times;  41  females  and  102  males,  five  times;  62 
females  and  195  males,  four  times;  91  females  and  247  males,  three  times; 
129  females  and  355  males,  twice ;  and  237  females  and  709  males,  once.” 

Ever  since  the  reign  of  James  I.,  when  drunkenness  was  made 
a  punishable  offence  by  a  fine  of  five  shillings,  or  confinement  in 
the  stocks  for  six  hours,  intemperance  has  gone  on  increasing  in 
our  land,  defying  all  penal  enactments  that  touch  the  drunkard, 
while  allowing  the  drunkard  maker  to  go  free. 

8.  — Inebriate  Asylums. — It  has  been  suggested  that  we  should 
treat  all  confirmed  drunkards  as  maniacs,  and  shut  them  up  in 


INEBRIATE  ASYLUMS. 


239 


asylums.  This  we  consider  to  be  a  most  impracticable  measure} 
but  if  it  could  be  carried  out,  it  must* signally  fail.  There  is  an 
asylum  of  this  kind  in  New  York  State;  yet  drunkenness  is  as 
prevalent  in  that  State,  as  in  our  own  country.*  But  how  shall 
you  determine  who  are  habitual  drunkards;  or  how  many  re¬ 
petitions  of  the  act  of  drunkenness  constitutes  an  habitual 
drunkard  ? 

To  make  this  measure  of  effect,  it  would  have  to  be 
extended  to  all  known  drunkards.  Now  it  has  been  computed 
that  there  are  live  hundred  thousand  of  this  class  in  the 
country,  and  to  maintain  this  great  number  in  asylums  would  be 
a  burden  too  great  for  the  already  heavily  taxed  rate  payers  to 
bear.  Our  present  accommodation  for  insane  persons  would  be 
quite  inadequate,  and  would  have  to  be  multiplied  twelve  times, 
at  an  additional  outlay  of  about  £30,000,000  for  new  erections, 
and  of  about  £18,000,000  per  annum  for  the  maintenance  of 
dipsomaniacs  ! 

This  insane-measure,  after  all,  would  leave  altogether  un¬ 
touched  the  cause  of  the  evil.  It  would  make  no  provision  for 
occasional  drunkards,  that  class  from  which  confirmed  drunkards 
are  immediately  produced.  Now,  certainly,  a  large  proportion 
of  the  misery,  poverty,  and  crime  abounding  in  our  midst,  flows 
from  those  who  get  drunk  only  occasionally,  as  well  as  from 
those  who  are  habitually  drunken.  Then  this  would  leave 
untouched  that  gigantic  system  of  iniquity,  the  drink  system ,  of 
which  both  occasional  and  confirmed  drunkards  are  but  the 
riper  products. 

In  making  this  appeal  for  wise  and  instant  action,  the 
author  would  speak  in  the  first  person. — If  in  my  garden 
there  was  a  nest  of  vipers,  rendering  that  garden  and  my  abode 
unsafe  ;  if  I  found  that  certain  members  of  my  household  were 

*  It  is  an  example  of  the  ignorance  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  this  ques¬ 
tion,  and  of  the  press  generally,  that  a  statement  made  hy  Mr.  Maguire,  M.P., 
in  the  debate  on  Dalrymple’s  Bill  for  the  establishment  of  “State  Inebriate 
Asylums,”  in  July,  1871,  went  forth  to  the  world  uncontradicted!  Mr. 
Maguire  said  that,  “such  Institutions  existed  in  the  Maine  Law  States.” 
which  proved,  he  argued,  that  “  Prohibition  was  not  so  effective  as  to  prevent, 
their  necessity.”  Now  Dr.  Lees  has  stated, after  twelve  months  examination 
and  travel  in  the  United  States,  that  there  is  not  a  single  Institution  of  the  kind 
in  a  Maine  Law  district.  Up  to  April,  1870,  there  were  only  four  such  in  all  the 
States — three  in  New  York  State,  and  one  in  Pennsylvania;  and  only  two  small 
voluntary  Washingtonian  Homes;  one  in  the  City  of  Boston,  and  one  in 
Chicago:  in  both  of  which  cities  the  authorities  have  been  hostile  to  prohi¬ 
bition.  Ward's  Island  Inebriate  Asylum,  New  York,  was  declared  in  1870,  by 
the  Commissioners,  to  have  illustrated  the  impossibility  of  permanently 
reclaiming  any  considerable  number  of  the  inmates. 


240  god’s  remedy  for  the  world’s  great  curse. 

stung  by  these  vipers,  so  that  they  sickened  and  died,  or  went 
raving  mad — what  should*  I  do  with  these  vipers?  Why,  track 
them  to  their  remotest  retreat,  and  utterly  exterminate  them. 

Our  country  is  a  garden,  beauteous  and  glorious  to  behold  1 
As  I  gaze  upon  its  fruitful  plains,  its  wooded  vales,  its  romantic 
lulls,  its  meandering  streams;  as,  passing  through  her  pleasant 
villages  and  populous  towns,  I  mark  the  glancing  eyes  of  her 
daughters,  and  the  manly  forms  of  her  sons,  I  feel  to  love  my 
native  land  ;  and,  though  not  insensible  to  her  defects,  yet  as  I 
contemplate  her  bold  and  striking  virtues,  I. can  truly  say, 

“England,  with  all  thy  faults,  I  love  thee  still." 

■*r 

Now,  in  this  garden  there  exists  a  nest  of  vipers,  and  many  of 
our  relatives,  friends,  and  neighbors  have  been  stung  by  them. 
In  sooth,  they  have  inflicted  greater  misery  upon  our  people 
than  did  the  fiery  flying  serpents  upon  the  tribes  of  Israel. 
What,  then,  shall  we  do  with  these  vipers?  Some  say,  set  them 
at  large,  give  them  perfect  freedom  of  action !  This  has  already 
been  tried  in  a  great  measure,  but  the  vipers  sting  the  more. 
Others  say,  let  us  encourage  them  to  propagate,  let  us  increase 
the  breed.  This,  also,  has  been  tried.  It  was  tried  when  the 
gin-shops  sprang  into  existence,  and  when  the  beer  and  wine 
shops  were  multiplied  in  our  midst;  they  only  stung  the  more. 
Others  say,  shut  them  up  one  day  in  seven.  But  this  would 
not  prevent  them  from  stinging  upon  the  other  six  days,  in  fact, 
it  might  only  make  them  more  violent.  Some  advise  us  to 
place  a  strong  fence  around  them,  leaving  only  a  few  holes  here 
and  there,  for* them  to  put  out  their  heads.  But  these  vipers 
are  of  the  true  basilisk  kind,  and  by  the  glitter  of  their  eyes 
attract  the  people  as  with  an  irresistible  charm,  and  sting 
them  as  before.  Some  advise  us  to  punish  the  people  more 
severely  for  being  stung  !  But  this  is  like  beating  a  child  for 
falling  down  and  hurting  itself.  You  only  make  it  the  more 
nervous  and  the  more  liable  to  fall. 

What,  then,  shall  we  do  with  these  vipers?  We  must  utterly 
exterminate  them.  This  is  the  only  means  of  remedying  this 
great  evil,  and  to  this  our  country  must  come  at  last;  for, 
unless  the  viper  drink,  and  all  its  brood  be  crushed  and  de¬ 
stroyed,  they  will  destroy  us. 

The  strife  is  now  pending — a  strife  the  issue  of  which  must 
decide  whether,  as  a  nation,  we  shall  sink  or  rise. 


WHAT  THE  PERMISSIVE  BILL  IS  NOT. 


255 


with  him  in  the  use  of  it.  If,  however,  the  free,  public,  common 
sale  of  this,  or  any  other  tiling,  he  fraught  with  great  mischef 
and  ruin  to  the  people,  and  threaten  even,  to  uproot  the  v>  ry 
foundations  of  society,  then  we  have  a  perfect  right  to  determine 
*♦  that  whereas  the  sale  of  these  things  is  incompatible  with  the 
welfare  and  safety  of  society,  such  sale  shall  no  longer  be 
allowed.”  This  applies  equally  to  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors.  We  do  not  wish  by  law  to  inteidiet  their 
use,  but  only  their  common  sale. 

It  may,  however,  be  asked,  “Where  are  we  to  obtain  this 
liquor  if  you  interdict  its  sale?”  We  reply,  that  is  your  look 
out,  not  ours.  Your  convenience  must  yield  to  the  public  safety. 
The  individual  says  the  sale  ought  to  be  allowed  lor  his  con¬ 
venience.  The  Community  responds — it  ought  to  be  prohibited 
for  our  safety  and  prosperity— for  the  public  good  infinitely 
transcerds  private  convenience. 

3. — It  is  not  even  proposed  to  take  the  power  of  licencing  out 
of  the  hands  of  magistrates,  or  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  local 


boards  and  town  councils,  etc. 

In  the  Scotch-burghs,  licenses  are  granted  by  the  baillies,  who 
are  elected  by  the  town  councils,  as  our  aldermen  are  elected; 
but  this  is  found  to  be  no  improvement  on  our  own  system.  The 
Scotch-burghs  are  as  much  characterized  by  drunkenness  as  our 
own  municipal  districts.  If  the  licensing  system  is  to  continue, 
let  the  power  of  granting  licenses  still  remain  in  the  hands  of 
magistrates,  and  let  it  be  their  duty  to  inquire  into  the  character 
of  the  applicant  and  the  suitability  of  the  hou-e.  But  when  it 
comes  to  the  necessities  and  conveniences  of  the  neighborhood , 
then  let  the  neighbors  themselves  be  consulted,  for  they  cer¬ 
tainly  ought  to  know  their  own  wants  and  conveniences  better 
than  magistrates  who  live  miles  away  from  the  locality. 

4. — Neither  is  it  proposed  to  amend  the  present  licensing  acts. 
As  electors  and  citizens  we  are  always  willing  to  aid  any  measure 
that  really  proposes  to  restrict  the  present  ruinous  system  ;  but 
it  is  not  for  us  to  take  the  initiative,  seeing  that  this  would  be  to 
compromise  with  the  enemy,  and  to  divert  us  from  the  great  end 
before  us,  viz:  “The  Total  Prohibition  of  the  Liquor  Traffic.” 
All  amendment  schemes  we  leave  to  others;  our  object  is  not  to 
amend,  but  to  annihilate.  All  that  tends  in  this  direction  in 
amendment  schemes  we  will  accept  as  instalments  only. 

The  Permissive  Bill  is  not  our  ultimatum .  Our  ultimatum  is 


256  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY  AND  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


the  destruction  of  the  liquor  traffic,  root  and  branch.  We  believe, 
however,  that  the  Permissive  Bill  is  the  best  measure  at  present 
before  the  country,  leading  in  this  direction  ;  we,  therefore,  most 
heartily  support  it,  and  earnestly  call  upon  our  legislators  not  to 
refuse  us  a  measure,  at  once  so  mild,  so  reasonable,  and  so  har¬ 
monizing  with  the  genius  of  the  English  constitution. 

We  do  not  desire,  at  present,  to  agitate  for  a  Maine-law,  as 
the  country  is  not  ripe  for  so  sweeping  a  measure ;  for  experience 
has  taught  us  that  laws  affecting  the  habits  and  tastes  of  the 
people,  not  supported  by  public  opinion,  are  generally  ineffective, 
as  witness  the  Gin  Biots  in  1736,  when  a  law  all  but  prohibitory 
in  effect,  but  not  in  principle,  wa§  passed,  to  lessen  the  consump¬ 
tion  of  gin  by  greatly  enhancing  its  price.  We  believe,  however, 
that  the  country  is  prepared  to  accept  the  Permissive  Prohibitory 
Liquor  Law  of  Sir  W.  Lawson,  and  that  the  present  government 
may  safely  and  wisely  allow  it  to  pass. 

A  variety  of  objections  have  been  urged  against  the  measure, 
and  that,  too,  by  men  of  great  intelligence  and  philanthropy, 
and  who  are  equally  anxious  with  ourselves  to  wipe  out  England’s 
shame.  We  will  consider  the  most  important  of  these  objections. 

1. — As  to  the  revenue.  While  the  annual  revenue  from  all 
sources  for  1868-9  amounted  to  £72,591,992,  the  revenue  derived 
from  intoxicating  liquor  amounted  to  £25,603,160,  or  including 
tobacco,  to  £32,136,626.  Now  it  is  urged  that  the  government 
cannot  let  this  go,  or  even  that  part  of  it  derived  from  the  sale 
of  liquor. 

We  reply  (1)  that  a  revenue  from  such  a  source  is  highly  ob¬ 
jectionable,  because  it  is  obtained  by  destroying  the  material 
resources,  and  the  morality  and  energy  of  our  people,  on  which 
the  future  financial  prosperity  of  the  state  is  dependent. 

The  tax  upon  intoxicating  liquor  is  a  tax  upon  vice.  Now,  vico 
ought  not  to  be  a  taxable  commodity.  Tax  luxuries  if  you  will, 
but  let  vice  be  suppressed  with  a  stern  hand.  Said  Lord 
Chesterfield,  in  the  House  of  Lords  (1743) : — “  Luxury,  my  lords, 
is  to  be  taxed,  but  vice  prohibited,  let  the  difficulty  in  the  law 
be  what  it  will.  Would  you  lay  a  t.:ix  upon  a  breach  of  the 
ten  commandments?  Would  not  such  a  tax  be  wicked  and 
scandalous?”  The  Daily  Telegraph  confesses  (1862)  that  ‘:Our 
revenue  may  dcrivo  some  unholy  benefit  from  the  sale  of  alcohol, 
but  the  entire  trade  is,  nevertheless,  a  covenant  with  sin  and 
death.”  (2)  It  is  a  very  wasteful  and  extravagant  manner -of 


TIIE  QUESTION  OF  REVENUE  CONSIDERED.  257 


raising  a  revenue.  The  revenue  to  the  exchequer  from  (h's 
source  amounted,  in  LS63-9,  to  £25,003, 1  GO.  Now  what  does  it 
cost  the  nation  to  get  at  this  sum?  Probably  £259.000,000, 
equivalent  to  paying  1,000  per  cent,  for  collecting  that  tax.  The 
following  are  the  particulars* 


1.  The  retail  value  of  the  liquor  sold,  .... 

2.  For  the  detection  and  punishment  of  crime 

caused  by  intemperance, . 

3.  In  poor  rates  and  police-rates,  extra  on  ac¬ 

count  of  drunkenness,  and  drink-made 
paupers, . 

4.  Losses  incurred  through  intemperance  to 

shipping  (see  Chap,  i,  pagi  Gl)  com¬ 
merce,  and  the  productive  industry  of 
the  nation, . 

5.  Cost  of  disease,  physical  and  mental,  both  in 

public  hospitals  and  in  private-practice, 

6.  Voluntary  taxes,  in  support  of  ragged  schools, 

local  charities,  etc., . 

7.  Extra  expenses  incurred  through  intempe¬ 

rance  in  the  army  and  navy,  .  .  .  . 

8.  Cost  of  corn  imported  to  replace  that  de¬ 

stroyed  in  d.stillation,  etc.,  .  .  .  . 


£103,000,000 

3,000,000 

10,000,000 

112,670,000 
6,000,000 
G, 000, 000 
2,422,000 
16,000.000 


Total,  £259.092,000 


This  mode  of  raising  a  revenue  is  certainlv  the  most  extrava- 
gant,  wasteful  and  foolish  that  can  well  be  conceived,  paying 
about  £10  to  collect  £1.  But  (3)  the  burden  falls  much  more 
heavily  on  the  poor,  according  to  their  means,  than  upon  the 
wealthy;  whereas  the  only  just  principle  of  taxation  is  to  tax 
each  class  according  to  its  means,  always  bearing  in  mind  the 
exceedingly  narrow  margin  out  of  which  the  working-man  l.as 
to  pay  taxes,  as  compared  with  the  broad  margin  of  the  wealthier 
classes. 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  honorable  members  talk  of  beer 
as  a  wholesome  and  a  nutritive  beverage,  and  will  not  consent  to 
“rob  the  poor  man”  of  it.  Yet  we  find  this  precious  commodity 
most  heavily  taxed!  The  tax  on  malt  is  £1  1.?.  Sd.  per  quarter. 
This  amount  of  malt  can  be  made  into  72  gallons  of  strong  beer; 
the  tax  being  3 per  gallon.  If  boer  be  necessary  to  the  work* 


258  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY  AND  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 

ing-man,  two  quarts  per  day  cannot  be  considered  an  excessive 
quantity;  this,  then,  would  give  a  consumption  of  14  quarts  per 
week,  or  728  quarts  (182  gallons)  per  annum,  the  tax  amounting 
to  £2  13s.  3d. 

The  government  is. certainly  very  considerate.  Most  anxious 
that  the  working-man  should  not  be  deprived  of  his  beer,  yet 
making  him  turn  over  £2  13s.  3 d.  a  year  for  the  privilege  of 
consuming  it ! 

In  the  case  of  spirituous  liquor  the  imposition  is  still  more 
glaring,  every  glass  of  gin  or  whisky  being  heavily  taxed.  A 
gallon  of  gin,  retail,  costs  the  consumer  16s.  This,  on  account 
of  dilution,  contains  only  aboat  foTty  per  cent,  alcohol.  The 
excise  duty  on  this,  at  the  rate  of  10s.  per  gallon  at  proof,  will 
amount  to  about  8s.  So  that  the  poor  man  must  pay  to  tho 
government  8s.  for  the  privilege  of  drinking  a  gallon  of  gin.  Now 
the  man  who  drinks  two  gills  of  gin  or  whisky  a  day,  pays  in 
the  course  of  a  year  £9  2s.,  as  a  tax  to  government,  or  3s.  6 d. 
a  week.  Presuming  that  his  average  earnings  amount  to  £1 
a  week,  then  in  this  one  article  alone  he  is  taxed  to  above  odo- 
sixth  of  his  income. 

Let  us  now  consider  what  proportion  of  the  whole  amount 
of  taxation  is  paid  by  the  working  class.  We  give  the  total 
amount  actually  collected  in  1868-9,  including  the  amount 
received  into  the  treasury,  and  the  cost  of  collecting,  as  both 
alike  come  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  ratepayers. 

Land  tax, . £1,117.570 

Assessed  taxes, .  2,369,315 

Property  and  Income  tax,  ....  8,623,508 

Stamps,  . 9,218,000 

Custom’s  duty  on  wine,  .  1,468,993 


Total,  £22,797,386 


Nearly  the  whole  of  this  is  paid  by  the  upper  and  middle 
classes. 

Custom  duties  (exclusive  of  wine,)  .  £24,248,417 
Excise  duties, .  21,091,915 


Total,  £45,340,332 


UNFAIR  TAXATION. 


259 


Now,  deducting  one-twentieth  of  the  above  as  the  amount 
contributed  by  the  wealthy  classes,  it  gives  the  following: 

Total  amount  of  taxes  paid  by  the  wealthy  classes: 

£22,797,386 

2,262,016 

Total,  £25,059,402 


Total  amount  of  taxes  paid  by  the  working  class: 

£45,340,332 

Less,  2,262,016  * 

.  Total,  £43,078,316 

The  proportion  of  taxation  to  the  sum  total  of  the  incomes  of 
the  two  classes  will  be  as  follows  : 

The  annual  income  of  the  wealthier  classes,  as  computed  by 
Professor  Levi,  £464,000,000.  Taxation  upon  this  £25,059,402, 
or  Is.  Id.  in  £1. 

Total  annual  income  of  the  working  class,  as  computed  by 
Professor  Levi,  £418,000,000.  Taxation  upon  this  £43,078,316, 
or  25.  in  £1.  So  that  the  rich  man  pays  Is.  Id.  in  every  £1  he 
receives,  whilst  the  poor  man  pays  2s.  in  every  £1  he  earns. 
Hence  we  see,  that  the  working  classes  contribute  just  l-846 
more  to  the  revenue  than  the  wealthy  classes;  and  yet  the 
total  amount  of  their  income  is  less  by  £46,000,000  per  annum, 
and  the  margin  out  of  which  they  can  afford  to  pay  taxes  is  also 
considerably  less.  It  is  sometimes  urged  that  the  working 
classes  are  not  compelled  to  pay  these  taxes,  and  that,  if  they 
but  abstain  from  the  articles  on  which  they  are  levied,  they  will 
be  almost  entirely  free  from  taxation. 

We  reply  (1)  that  several  of  the  taxed  commodities  are  not 
now  luxuries,  but  necessaries,  as  tea,  coffee,  etc.,  and  that  to  tax 
necessaries  is  most  unjust  and  tyrannical.  (2.)  In  reference  to 
the  so-called  luxuries,  especially  intoxicating  liquor,  it  is  with  an 
ill  grace  indeed  that  the  government  urge  that  working-men 
are  not  compelled  to  tax  themselves  by  the  consumption  of  these 
pernicious  liquors,  seeing  that  they  have  dogged  the  poor  man’s 
steps,  and  placed  temptations  to  entrap  him  at  every  corner. 

But  would  the  revenue  suffer  from  the  suppression  of  this 
traffic?  No!  A  permissive  prohibitory  liquor  law  would  be 


260  POLITICAL  PIIILOSOPIIY  AND  TIIE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


brought  into  operation  by  instalments,  and  only  as  different 
districts  were  prepared  to  adopt  its  provisions.  The  reduction, 
then,  in  the  custom  and  excise  duties  would  take  place  very 
gradually,,  giving  ample  time  for  the  revenue  to  adjust  itself  by 
an  inciease  in  the  returns  from  other  sources,  or  even  bv  the 
imposition  of  new  taxes  founded  on  a  policy  more  just  and  wise. 
Many  students  of  this  subject,  however,  are  of  opinion  that  tho 
revenue  would  improve  rather  than  diminish  by  the  suppression 
of  this  traffic.  The  late  Canon  Stowell,  in  a  lecture  at  the 
Mechanics’  Institution,  Manchester,  said: — “If  the  government 
can  control  drunkenness,  it  ought  to  do  so.  If  it  does  not,  it  is 
afraid  of  its  revenue.  What  will  be  lost  will  come  back  tenfold, 
in  consequence  of  the  promotion  of  honest  industry.” 

This  opinion  received  ample  confirmation  some  years  ago  in 
Ireland,  where,  through  the  labors  of  Father  Mathew  and  other 
great  and  good  men,  the  consumption  of  liquor  decreased  amaz¬ 
ingly,  and  yet  the  revenue  improved.  In  the  year  ending 
January  5th,  1839,  shortly  before  which  period  the  reforma¬ 
tion  commenced,  the  produce  from  licenses  was  £128,494.  Year 
by  year  this  amount  was  reduced,  till  the  year  ending  January 
5th,  1(842,  the  produce  was  only  £95,980,  being  a  total  reduction 
upon  the  three  years  of  £32.514.  In  the  year  ending  January  5th, 
1839,  the  amount  received  from  the  tax  on  malt  was  £289,809; 
in  the  year  ending  January  5th,  1842,  itstood^  at  £105,153,  mak¬ 
ing  a  total  decrease  in  the  three  vears  of  £124,716.  With  regard 
to  spirits  the  revenue  for  the  year  ending  January  5th,  1839.  was 
£1,510,092;  in  the  year  ending  January  5th,  1842,  the  amount 
was  reduced  to  £964,711,  being  a  decrease  in  the  three  years 
of  £545,381.  The  whole  decrease  of  the  revenue  from  spirit 
licenses,  malt,  and  spirits,  during  the  five  years  ending  January 
5th,  1842,  amounted  to  £682,011.  Yet  notwithstanding  this  vciy  . 
heavy  reduction,  arising  from  the  success  of  the  temperance 
movement,  there  was  a  large  increase  of  revenue,  from  the  in¬ 
creased  produce  of  other  excisable  articles;  the  revenue  for  1841 
was  £4.107,860.  which  increased  in  1842,  to  £4,198,089,  showing 
a  total  increase  of  £90.823.  The  revenue  on  tea  alone  for  the 
year  ending  January  5th,  1842,  had  increased  bv  £*0.039. 

2. — It  is  objected,  that  our  remedy  is  a  very  extreme  measure. 

Now,  for  a  remedy  to  be  extreme,  it  must  be  more  than  com¬ 
mensurate  to  the  evil  to  be  corrected.  Our  measure,  however, 
ia  not  commensurate  with  the  great  evil  of  drinking,  und  there- 


VESTED  INTERESTS. 


2G1 


faro,  instead  of  being  an  extreme,  it  is  a  very  mild  measure, 
seeking  to  correct  the  evil,  not  in  an  abrupt  and  sweeping  fashion, 
but  in  a  very  gradual  and  gentle  manner  indeed. 

3.  — It  is  objected,  that  our  measure  would  confer  upon  the 
majority  a  power  to  oppress  the  minority. — A  government  by 
majority  is  the  very  basis  of  a  free  government.  In  all  govern¬ 
ments,  either  the  minority  must  rule,  or  the  majority.  If  the 
minority,  then  you  have  tyranny;  if  the  majority,  political 
freedom.  The  decisions  in  parliament  are  decided  by  majority. 
The  decisions  in  meetings  of  town  councils,  and  the  election  of 
members  to  serve  in  parliament,  are  all  decided  by  majority, 
and  minorities  are  comj  elled  to  submit.  The  majority,  then, 
must  1  uie,  in  order  to  avert  either  tyranny  or  anarchy.  There 
is  but  one  exception.  '1  he  majority  have  no  right  whatever  to 
inlrirtge  upon  the  natural  riyhtx  of  the  minority,  however  small 
that  minority  may  be.  All  such  infringements  are  tyrannical, 
and  it  becomes  a  virtue  on  the  part  of  the  minority  to  resist, 
liut  no  such  natural  rights  are  infringed  by  the  suppression  of 
the  liquor  traffic,  because  that  traffic  is  at  war  with  the  most 
sacred  rights,  both  of  individuals  and  communities. 

This  bill,  if  allowed  to  pass,  would  indeed  be  an  extension  of 
the  liberties  of  the  subject;  as  their  wishes  would  be  regarded 
instead  of  being  shauietully  disregarded,  as  at  present,  it  would 
also,  to  a  ceitain  extent,  place  the  poor  man  on  an  equal 
looting  with  his  wealthy  neighbor.  Magistrates  and  larid- 
owntrs  often  exercise  a  most  judicious  control  over  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  public  houses,  for  they  never  allow  a  public-house  or 
beer-shop  to  he  established  next  their  own  door.  Why,  then 
should  they  seek  to  thrust  the  nuisance  they  do  not  like  them¬ 
selves,  upon  their  poorer  fellow  subjects? 

There  are  iwo  ways  in  which  magistrates  and  landed  pro¬ 
prietors  act  in  a  very  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  manner;  in 
sweeping  away  the  liquor  traffic  from  their  estates  without  con¬ 
sulting  the  wishes  ol  the  people,  and  in  forcing  the  nuisance 
upon  localities  against  the  expiessed  wishes  of  the  inhabitants, 
'lins  tyianny  our  bill  would  correct,  by  placing  the  veto  power 
and  therefore  the  responsibility,  in  the  hands  ot  the  people. 

4.  — It  is  oljeotid,  that  the  passing  of  this  bill  would  be  a 
vit  iation  ol  veiled  interests.  \s  e  know  of  no  vested  interests 
that  can  le  upheld  in  peleience  to  the  rights  of  the  people,  and 
the  general  interests  and  well-being  of  the  community  ;  and  we 


262  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY  AND  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 

know  of  no  interests  that  ought  to  be  respected  in  a  crime-pro¬ 
ducing,  demoralizing  traffic.  Further,  no  publican  or  licensed 
victualler  has  a  vested  interest  in  his  trade  for  a  longer  period 
than  one  year.  II is  license  is  renewed  annually,  and  is  not 
granted  to  him  in  perpetuity  j  and  as  he  is  perfectly  aware  of 
this,  his  license  can  be  justly  withdrawn  at  the  expiration  of  the 
agreement.  F.  W.  Newman  says: — “A  licensed  victualler  has, 
by  special  favor,  received  a  privilege  of  sale  which  is  refused  to 
others.  It  was  granted  to  him  for  no  merit  of  his  own,  but  for 
the  convenience  of  the  community.  lie  knows  and  always 
knew,  that  he  held  it  on  sufferance,  and  was  liable  to  have  it  ivilh- 
drawn.  lie  could  in  no  case  complain  at  its  being  rescinded, 
without  fault  on  his  own  part,  except  it  favored  a  rival  at  his 
expense.” — Considerations  for  the  Educated. 

5. — It  is  objected,  that  this  measure  is  impracticable,  and  that 
if  passed  it  would  be  evaded  on  every  hand.  Hush-shops  and 
shebeens  would  be  established,  and  thus  the  evil  would  increase 
rather  than  diminish. 

But  are  th q present  laws  obeyed?  On  the  contrary,  they  are 
broken  on  every  hand.  There  are  persons  still  engaged  in  tho 
illicit  distillation  of  spirits,  and  in  their  illegal  sale.  There  arc 
hundreds  of  unlicensed  houses  in  the  country  engaged  in  this 
nefarious  traffic.  There  are  large  numbers  of  “shebeens”  in 
Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  large  numbers  of  “hush-shops”  in  the 
towns  of  Lancashire,  and  large  numbers  of  houses  selling  cider 
and  beer  without  a  license  in  the  cider  counties.  Now,  if  this 
objection  be  at  all  valid,  it  is  as  strong  against  the  present 
system  as  against  the  proposed  measure.  Really,  however,  are 
we  to  refuse  to  pass  laws  of  a  salutary  and  wise  character, 
because  there  are  certain  lawless  people  in  the  country  who 
make  it  their  interest  to  evade  or  break  them?  If  so,  we  had 
better  refrain,  not  only  from  all  future  legislation,  but  even 
abrogate  the  laws  now  in  force,  for  there  is  not  one  that  is  not 
broken  or  evaded,  sadly  too  often.  If  lawless  and  ill-disposed 
persons,  when  a  prohibitory  liquor  law  is  passed,  should  attempt 
the  illegal  sale,  what  would  be  our  duty?  Not  certainly  to 
refuse  legislation  upon  this  subject,  but  'to  make  the  law  as 
stringent  as  possible,  and,  by  strengthening  the  arm  of  the  execu¬ 
tive,  make  that  law  “a  terror  to  evil-doers.” 

6*  1  he  Right  lion.  John  Bright,  M.  P.,  in  receiving  an  Alliance 

deputation  in  Birmingham,  January,  1870,  objected  to  the 


EIGHT  HONORABLE  JOHN  BRIGHT^  OBJECTION.  263 


measure  in  the  following  words: — “  It  is  not  the  custom  in  this 
country,  and  it  is  not  constitutional ,  to  refer  great  questions 
separately,  by  themselves,  individually,  to  the  votes  of  the  great 
mass  of  persons,  that  they  may  determine  great  questions  of 
policy.  What  is  referred  to  them  is,  that  they  may  determine 
the  persons  by  whom  questions  of  legislation  shall  be  considered 
and  decided  upon.” 

We  reply,  that  it  is  the  custom,  and  has  been  ever  since  we 
had  a  representative  system,  for  the  large  mass  of  voters  to 
appoint  representatives  (with  a  certain  latitude  of  discretion), 
not  for  carrying  out  their  own  views,  but  the  views  and  policy 
of  the  constituency.  Before  a  suitable  candidate  is  chosen, 
that  candidate  must  inform  the  constituency  what  measures 
he  proposes  to  advocate  and  vote  for,  or  to  oppose,  in  parlia¬ 
ment;  many  questions  are  put  to  him,  and  if  he  refuses 
to  promise  the  large  mass  of  the  voters  to  go  in  for  their 
measures,  they  either  leave  him  to  his  fate  or  look  out  for  a 
more  suitable  person.  A  member  of  parliament,  then,  is  the 
trusted  seivant  of  the  constituency,  and  is  sent  to  parliament  not 
surely  to  represent  himself  without  the  constituency,  but  to 
carry  out  their  wishes  as  best  he  can.  So,  from  time  to  time, 
the  honorable  member  must  address  his  constituents  and  jxive  an 
account  of  his  stewardship.  Hence,  if  it  be  the  profound  and 
earnest  conviction  of  the  large  mass  of  voters  that  the  liquor 
traffic  is  an  evil  in  itself,  a  traffic  not  to  be  regulated  but  to  be 
swept  away,  and  that  ^he  mildest  method  of  doing  this  is  a 
permissive  bill,*  it  is  perfectly  constitutional  for  those  constitu¬ 
encies,  where  permissive  bill  voters  predominate,  to  elect  only 
those  candidates  who  promise  to  vote  for  the  measure. 

True,  there  is  no  other  measure  of  a  similar  character  which 
requires  the  annual  or  triennial  assembling  of  the  rate-payers 
of  a  district  to  determine  whether  the  law  shall  be  applied  or 
not;  but  legislation  is  drifting  in  this  direction,  as  witness  the 
Health  of  Towns1  Acts,  and  Public  Libraries’  Acts,  etc.  It  does 
not  signify,  however,  whether  the  exact  parallel  can  be  found  or 
not,  lor  if  the  measure  be  unique,  the  evil  it  seeks  to  suppress  is 
also  unique.  Were  men  but  properly  informed  on  this  question, 
and  were  our  legislators  not  blinded  by  custom,  appetite,  and 
interest,  wre  should  not  need  to  ask  them  for  a  Permissive  Pro¬ 
hibitory  Liquor  Law,  for  without  delay,  by  an  imperial  enact¬ 
ment,  the  liquor  traffic  would  be  annihilated  at  a  stroke. 


264  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY  AND  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


7. — It  is  objected,  that,  though  the  principle  of  the  bill  bo 
just.  i;s  machinery  is  bad,  and  would  produce  embarrassment, 
r.ot  and  confusion,  and  it  is  urged  that  it  is  a  much  safer  and 
wiser  method  to  vest  the  veto  power  in  the  hands  of  Local 
Boards  and  Town  Councils. 

If  town  councillors  were  appointed  solely  with  regard  to 
the  issue  of  this  question,  you  would  have  as  much  disturbance 
and  iiot  as  by  referring  the  measure  directly  to  the  votes  of  the 
rate-payers.  As  to  the  riot  and  disturbance,  wc  had  far  better 
have  a  riot  once  a  year,  if  needs  be,  than  that  state  of  chronic 
riot  and  disorder  which  we  are  .now  called  upon  to  endure.  If 
the  liquor-shops  were  to  be  closed  on  the  polling  day,  there 
would  be  little  or  no  disturbance. 

b. — If  this  bill  were  enacted  into  law,  many  families  would  be 
turned  out  of  employment.”  D.d  the  government  consider  this 
when  the  late  lleer  Bill”  was  passed  ?  Are  wc  to  have  no 
regard  whatever  for  the  600,000  victims  of  this  cruel  traffic,  for 
the  50,000  slain  by  it  every  year,  and  for  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  children  nowsutfering  all  the  wrongs  of  neglect  and  starvation 
in  consequence  of  it?  Are  we  really  to  pay  more  regard  to  the 
pecuniary  interests  of  (say)  150,000  persons,  than  to  the  material 
and  moral  interests  of  30,000,000,  composing  the  population  of 
this  country?  No  law  of  a  salutary  character,  no  law  calcu¬ 
lated  to  benefit  the  nation  as  a  whole,  can  be  passed  without 
some  persons  sustaining  injury  and  loss.  The  abolishing  of  the 
corn  laws,  the  success  of  free  trade  principles  and  their  embodi¬ 
ment  in  law,  inflicted  severe  and  heavy  losses  upon  a  great  many 
people,  but  the  nation  at  large  was  vastly  benefited  ;  and  this  is 
what  we  ought  always  to  consider.  Any  law  that  aims  at  correct¬ 
ing  the  present  abnormal  state  of  society,  must  occasion  suffering 
to  a  few,  and  principally  to  those  who  have  been  fattening  upon 
the  wrongs  and  injustice  sought  to  be  remedied.  The  greatest 
good  of  the  greatest  number  must  be  the  end  of  all  legislation 
and  reforms,  and  this  end  we  must  steadfastly  seek,  even  though 
we  inflict  inconvenience  and  loss  upon  the  few'  interested  in  old 
standing  abuses. 

The  legislative  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  ha3  become  a 
stern  necessity.  The  safety  of  this  great  nation  imperatively 
demands  it.  Salus  pojmli  suprema  lex!  The  welfare  of  the 
people  is  the  supreme  law.  The  enemies  most  dangerous  to  a 
nation  are  not  those  without  and  beyond  its  own  borders,  but 


PUBLICATIONS 

OK  THB 


y*tND  Publication  pfousE. 


^J'HE  National  Temperance  Society,  organized  in  i860  for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  a  sound  and  able  Temperance  literature,  have  already 
stereotyped  and  published  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  publications  of 
all  sorts  and  sizes,  from  the  one-page  tract  up  to  the  bound  volume  of  500 
pages.  This  list  comprises  books,  tracts,  and  pamphlets,  containing 
essays,  stories,  sermons,  arguments,  statistics,  history,  etc.,  upon  every 
phase  of  the  question.  Special  attention  has  been  given  to  the  department 

For  Sunday-School  Libraries. 

Over  forty  volumes  have  already  been  issued,  written  by  some  of  the  best 
authors  in  the  land.  These  have  been  carefully  examined  and  unani¬ 
mously  approved  by  the  Publication  Committee  of  the  Society,  represent¬ 
ing  the  various  religious  denominations-aiid  Temperance  organizations  of 
the  country,  which  consists  of  the  following  members: 


PETER  CARTER, 

Rev.  W.  M.  TAYLOR, 
A.  A.  ROBBINS, 

Rev.  M.  C.  SUTPHEN, 
T.  A.  BROUWER, 

J.  N.  STEARNS, 


Rev.  J.  B.  DUNN, 

Rev.  A.  G.  LAWSON, 
Rev.  ALFRED  TAYLOR, 
R.  R.  SINCLAIR, 

Rev.  C.  D.  FOSS, 

JAMES  BLACK, 


Rev.  WILLIAM  HOWELL  TAYLOR. 


These  volumes  have  been  cordially  commended  by  leading  clergymen 
of  all  denominations,  and  by  various  national  and  State  bodies,  all  over 
the  land. 

The  following  is  the  list,  which  can  be  procured  through  the  regular 
Sunday-School  trade,  or  by  sending  direct  to  the  rooms  of  the  Society  : 


Rev.  Dr.  Willoughby  and  his  Wine,  nmo,  458  pages.  By  Mrs.  Mary 
String  Walker,  author  of  “  The  Family  Doctor,”  etc,  .  .  .  $1  50 

This  thrillingly  Interesting  book  depicts  in  a  vivid  manner  the  terrible  influence  exerted  by 
those  who  stand  as  the  servants  of  God,  and  who  sanction  the  social  custom  of  wine-drinking. 
It  is  fair  and  faithful  to  the  truth.  It  is  not  a  bitter  tirade  against  the  church  or  the  ministry. 
Ou  the  contrary,  i  t  plainly  and  earnestly  acknowledges  that  the  ministry  is  the  friend  of  morality, 
and  the  great  bulwark  of  practical  virtue. 


At  Lion’s  Mouth.  i2mo,  410  pp.  By  Miss  Mary  Dwinell  Chellis,  author 
of  “Temperance  Doctor,”  “Out  of  the  Fire,”  “Aunt  Dinah’s 
Pledge,”  etc., . .  $1  25 

This  is  one  of  the  best  books  ever  issued,  written  in  a  simple  vet  thrilling  and  interest¬ 
ing  style.  It  speaks  boldly  for  the  entire  suppression  of  the  liquor  traflic,  depicting  vividly  the 
misery  and  wrongs  resulting  from  it.  The  Christian  tone  is  most  excellent;  showing  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  God’s  grace  in  the  heart  to  overcome  temptation  and  the  power  ot  appetite,  and  the 
Influence  which  one  zealous  Christian  can  exert  upon  his  companions  and  the  community. 


The  National  Temperance  Society's  Books . 


Aunt  Dinah’s  Pledge.  i2rao,  318 
pages.  By  Miss  Mary  Dwinell 
Chelus,  author  of  “  Temperance 
Doctor,”  “  Out  of  the  Fire,” 
etc., . •  $1  25 

Aunt  Dinah  was  an  eminent  Christian  wo¬ 
man.  Her  pledge  included  swearing  and  smok¬ 
ing  as  well  as  drinking.  It  saved  her  boys, 
wSo  lived  useful  lives,  and  died  happy  ;  and 
by  quiet,  yet  loving  and  persistent  work,  names 
of  many  others  were  added  who  seemed  almost 
beyond  hope  of  salvation. 

The  Temperance  Doctor.  i2ino,  370  - 
pages.  By  Miss  Mary  Dwinell 
Chellis,  .  .  .  .  •  •  .  $1  25 

This  is  a  true  story,  replete  with  interest, 
and  adapted  to  Sunday-school  and  family  read¬ 
ing  In  it  we  have  graphically  depicted  the 
sad  ravages  that  are  caused  by  the  use  ol  intox¬ 
icating  beverages ;  also,  the  blessings  of  Tem¬ 
perance,  and  what  may  be  accomplished  by  one 
earnest  soul  for  that  reform.  It  ought  to  find 
reader!  in  every  household. 

Out  of  the  Fire.  121110,  420  pages. 
By  Miss  Mary  Dwinell  Chellis, 
author  of  “  Deacon  Sim’s  Pray¬ 
ers,”  etc., . $1  ‘-5 

It  is  one  ot  the  most  effective  and  impressive 
Temperance  books  ever  published.  The  evils 
of  the  drinking  customs  of  society,  and  tire 
blessings  of  sobriety  and  total  abstinence,  are- 
strikingly  developed  in  the  history  of  various 
families  in  the  community. 

History  of  a  Threepenny  Bit.  i3mo, 
216  pages, . $0  75 

.  This  is  a  thrilling  story,  beautifully  illus¬ 
trated  with  five  choice  wood  engravings.  The 
story  of  little  Peggy,  the  drunkard’s  daughter, 
is  told  in  such  a  simple  yet  interesting  manner 
■  that  no  one  can  read  it  without  realising  more 
than  ever  before  the  nature  and  extent  of  in¬ 
temperance,  and  sympathizing  more  than  ever 
with  the  patient,  suffering  victim.  It  should 
be  iu  every  Sunday-school  library. 

Adopted.  i8mo,  236  pages.  By 
Mrs.  E.  J.  Richmond,  author  ot 
“  The  McAllisters,”  .  .  .  $0  (10 

This  book  is  written  in  an  easy,  pleasant 
vie,  seems  to  be  true  to  nature,  true  to  itself, 
anti  withal  is  full  of  the  Gospel  and  Temper-  J 
ance. 

The  Red  Bridge.  i8mo,  321  pages.  ! 
By  Thrace  Talman,  .  .  $0  DO 

We  have  met  with  few  Temperance  stories 
containing  so  many  evidences  of  decided  ability 
and  hlghnterary  excellence  as  this.  x 


The  Old  Brow 

222  pages. 

“  Susie’s  Six 
Flower  of  the 

Beautr  ully  illustrated.  This  admirable  yol  - 
ume  for  boys  and  girls,  containing  original 
stories  by  some  of  the  most  gifted,  writers  ior 
the  young,  will  be  eagerly  welcomed  by  the 
children.  It  is  adapted  alike  for  the  family 
circle  and  the  Sabbath -school  library. 

Our  Parish.  i8mo,  252  pages.t  By 
Mrs.  Emily  Pearson,  .  .  $0  75 

The  manifold  evils  resulting  from  the  “  still  ” 
to  the  owner’s  family,  as  well  as  to  the  families 
of  his  customers,  are  truthfully  presented.  The 
characters  introduced,  sucli  as  are  found  in 
almost  every  good-sized  village,  are  well  por¬ 
trayed.  We  can  unhesitatingly  commend  it, 
and  bespeak  for  it  a  wide  circulation. 

The  Hard  Master.  i8mo,  278  pages 
By  Mrs.  J.  E.  McConaughy,  au¬ 
thor  of  “  One  Hundred  Gold  Dol¬ 
lars,”  and  other  popular  Sunday- 
School  books, . $0  85 

This  interesting  narrative  of  the  temptations, 
trials,  hardships,  and  fortunes  of  poor  orphan 
boy  xllustrateshn  a  most  striking  manner  the 
value  of  “  right  principles,”  especially  of 
honesty  truthfulness,  and  Temperance. 

Echo  Bank.  i8mo,  269  pages.  By 
Ervie, . $0  80 

This  is  a  well-written  and  deeply  interesting 
narrative,  in  which  is  clearly  shown  t lie  suffer¬ 
ing  and  sorrow  that  too  otten  follow  and  the 
dangers  that  attend  bovs  and  young  men  at 
school  and  at  college,  who  suppose  they  can 
ensilv  take  a  glass  or  two  occasionally,  with- 
out  tear  of  ever  being  aught  more  than  a  mode¬ 
rate  drinker. 

Rachel  Xohle’s  Experience.  i8mo, 

12s  pages.  By  Bruce  Edwards. 

3  5  1  b  $0  DO 

This  is  a  story  of  thrilling  interest,  ably  and 
eloquently  told,  and  is  an  excellent  book  for 
Sunday-school  libraries.  It  is  just  the  book  lor 
the  home  circle,  and  canuot  be  read  without 
benefiting  the  reader  and  advancing  the  cause 
of  Tempenune. 

Gertie’s  Sacrifice;  or  Glimpses  at 
Two  Lives.  181110, 189  pages.  Bv 
Mrs.  F.  D.  Gage,  ....  $0  60 

A  storv  of  great  interest  and  power,  giving  a 
“  glimpse  at  two  lives,”  and  showlughow 
Gertie  sacrificed  herself  at  a  vietlm  of  faxWon, 
custom,  and  law. 


u  Pitcher.  umo. 
By  the  Author  of 
Birthdays,”  “The 
Family,”  etc.,  $1  00 


•j 


The  National  Temperance  Society  s  Books , 


Time  will  Tell.  121110,  307  pages. 
By  Mrs.  Wilson,  ....  $1  00 

A  Temperance  tale  of  thrilling  interest  ami 
unexceptionable  moral  aiul  religious  tone.  It 
is  foil  of  incidents  and  chartiot'ers  of  everyday 
life,  while  its  lessons  are  plainly  and  forcibly 
set  before  the  reader.  The  pernicious  results 
of  the  drinking  usages  in  the  family  and  social 
circle  are- plainly  set  forth. 


Philip  Eckert’s  Struggles  and 
Triumphs.  181110,  216  pages.  By 
the  author  of  “Margaret  Clair/’ 

$0  (50 


This  interesting  narrative  of  a  noble,  manly 
bov.  in  an  intemperate  home,  fighting  with  the 
wrong  and  battling  for  the  right,  should  be 
read  by  every  child  in  the  land. 


Jug-0  r-Xot.  121110,  346  pages.  By 
Mrs.  J.  McNair  Wright,  author 
of  “John  and  the  Demijohn,” 
“Almost  a  Nun,”  “  Priest  and 
Nun, ’’etc., . $1  25 

It  is  one  of  her  best  books,  and  treats  of  the 
physical  and  hereditary  effects  of  drinking  in  a 
clear,  plain,  and  familiar  style,  adapted  to 
popular  reading,  and  which  should  be  read  by 
all  classes  in  the  community,  and  find  a  place 
in  every  Sunday-school  library. 


The  Broken  Bock.  i8mo,  139  pages. 

By  Kruna,  author  of  “  Lift  a 

Little,”  etc., . $0  50 

It  beautifully  illustrates  the  silent  and  holy 
influence  of  a  meek  and  lowly  spirit  upon  the 
heartless  rumseller  until  the  rocky  heart  was 
broken. 


Andrew  Douglass.  i8mo,  232  pages, 

$0  75 

A  new  Temperance  story  for  Sunday-schools, 
written  in  a  lively,  energetic,  and  popular 
.style,  adapted  to  the  Sabbath -school  and  the 
family  circle. 


Vow  at  the  Bars. 


181110,  108 


It  contains  four  short  tales,  illustrating  four 
important  principles  connected  with  the  Tem¬ 
perance  movement,  and  is  well  adapted  for  the 
family  circle  and  Sabbath-school  libraries. 


Job  Tufton’s  Rest.  i2mo,  332 
pages, . $1  25 

A  story  of  life’s  struggles,  written  by  the 
gifted  author,  Clara  Lucas  Balfour,  depict¬ 
ing  most  skilfully  and  truthfully  many  a  life- 
struggle  with  the  demon  of  intemperance  oc¬ 
curring  all  along  life’s  pathway.  It  is  a  finely 
written  story,  and  full  of  interest  from  the  be¬ 
ginning  to  the  end. 


Frank  Oldfield ;  or,  Lost  and  Found. 

i2mo,  408  pages,  .  .  .  .  $1  50 

This  excellent  story  received  the  prize  of 
T100  in  England,  out  of  eighty-three  manu¬ 
scripts  submitted  ;  and  1  y  an  arrangement 
with  the  publisher’s  we  publish  it  in  this  coun¬ 
try  with  all  the  original  illustrations.  It  is 
admirably  adapted  to  Sunday-school  libraries. 


Tom  Blinn’s  Temperance  Society, 
and  other  Stories.  121110,  316 
pages,  . . $1  25 

This  is  the  title  of  a  new  book  written  by 
T.  IS.  Arthur,  the  well-known  author  of  “  Ten 
Nights  in  a  Bar-room,”  and  whose  fame  as  an 
author  should  bespeak-for  it  a  wide  circulation. 
It  is  written  in  Mr.  Arthur’s  best  style,  coin 
posed  of  a  series  o  tales  adapted  to  every  family 
and  library  in  the  land. 

The  Barker  Family.  121110,  336 

pages.  By  Emily  Thom 

A  simple,  spirited,  and  interesting  narrative, 
written  in  a  style  especially  attractive,  depict¬ 
ing  the  evils  that  arise  from  intemperance,  and 
the  blessings  that  followed  the  earnest  efforts 
of  those  who  sought  to  win  others  to  the  paths 
of  total  abstinence.  Illustrated  with  three  en¬ 
gravings.  The  book  will  please  all. 


up 

$1  25 


143 

II- 


Come  Home,  Mother.  i8mo, 
pages.  By  Nelsie  Brook. 
lustrated  with  six  choice  engrav¬ 
ings,  . $0  50 


A  most  effective  and  interesting  book,  de¬ 
scribing  the  downward  course  of  the  mother, 
and  giving  an  account  of  the  sad  scenes,  but  ef¬ 
fectual  endeavors,  of  the  little  one  in  bringing 
her  mother  back  to  friends,  and  leading  her  to 
God.  It  should  be  read  by  everybody. 


Tim’s  Troubles.  121110,  350  pages. 
By  Miss  M.  A.  Paull,  .  .  $1  50 

This  is  the  second  Prize  Book  of  the  United 
Kingdom  Band  of  Hope  Union,  and  which  has 
been  reprinted  in  this  country  with  all  the  ori¬ 
ginal  illustrations.  It  is  the  companion  of 
“  Frank  Oldfield,”  written  in  a  high  tone,  and 
will  be  found  n  valuable  addition  to  our  Tem¬ 
perance  literature. 


The  Drinking  Fountain  Stories^ 

121110,  192  pages,  .  .  .  .  $1  00 

This  book  of  illustrated  stories  for  children 
contains  articles  from  the  pens  of  some  of  the 
best  writers  for  children  in  America,  and  is 
beautifully  illustrated  with  forty  choice  wood 
engravings.  Itis  interspersed  with  short  stork* 
and  anecdotes,  and  should  be  in  every  Sunday- 
school  library  and  In  the  hands  of  every  child 
in  the  land. 


The  National  Temperance  Society’s  Books. 


Hoperiale  Tavern,  and  What  it 

Wrought.  i2mo,  252  pages.  By 

J.  William  Van  Namee,  .  $1  00 

It  shows  the  3ad  results  which  followed  the 
Introduction  of  a  Tavern  and  Bar  in  a  beauti¬ 
ful  and  quiet  country  town,  whose  inhabitants 
had  hitherto  lived ‘in  peace  and  enjoyment 
The  contrast  is  too  plainly  presented  to  fail  to 
produce  an  impression  on  the  reader,  making 
all  more  desirous  to  abolish  the  sale  of  all  in¬ 
toxicants 


The  Pitcher  of  Cool  Water.  i8mo, 

180  pages.  By  T.  S.  Arthur, 
author  of  “  Tom  Blinn’s  Temper¬ 
ance  Society,”  “  Ten  Nights  in  a 
Bar-room,  etc.,  .  .  .  .  $0  50 

This  little  book  consists  of  a  series  of  Tem¬ 
perance  stories,  handsomely  illustrated,  written 
in  Mr.  Arthur’s  best  style,  and  is  altogether 
one  of  the  best  books  which  can  be  placed  in 
the  hands  of  children.  Every  Sunday-school 
library  should  possess  it. 


Roy’s  Search;  or,  Lost  in  the  Cars. 

i2mo,  364  pages.  By  Helen  C. 
Pearson,  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  $1  25 

This  new  Temperance  book  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  ever  published— written  in  a 
fresh,  sparkling  style,  especially  adapted  to 
please  the  boys,  and  contains  so  much  that 
will  benefit  as  well  as  amuse  and  interest  that 
we  wish  all  the  boys  in  the  land  might  read  it. 

How  Could  He  Escape  1  nmo,  324 
pages.  By  Mrs.  J.  NcNair 
Wright,  author  of  uJug-Or- 
Not.”  Illustrated  with  ten  en¬ 
gravings,  designed  by  the  au¬ 
thor,  . $1  25 

This  is  a  true  tale,  and  one  of  the  writer’s 
best  productions.  It  snows  the  terrible  effects 
of  even  one  glass  of  intoxicating  liquor  upon 
the  system  of  one  unable  to  resist  its  influences, 
and  the  necessity  of  grace  in  the  heart  to  resist 
temptation  and  overcome  the  appetite  for  strong 
drink. 

The  Best  Fellow  in  the  World. 

i2ino,  352  pages.  By  Mrs.  J. 
McNair  Wright,  author  of  “Jug- 
Or-Not,”  “  How  Could  He  Es¬ 
cape  ?”  “  Priest  and  Nun,”  etc., 

$1  25 

“The  Best  Fellow,”  whose  course  is  here 
portrayed,  is  oue  of  a  very  large  class  who  are 
fed  astray  and  ruined  simply  because  they  are 
such  “  good  fellows.”  To  all  such  the  volume 
speaks  in  thrilling  tones  of  warning,  shows  the 
inevitable  consequences  of  indulging  in  strong 
drink,  and  the  necessity  of  divine  grace  in  the 
heart  to  interpose  and  save  from  ruin. 

Frank  Spencer’s  Rule  of  Life. 

i8mo,  180  pages.  By  John  W. 
Kirton,  author  of  “  Buy  Your 
Own  Cherfies,”  11  Four  Pillars  of 
Temperarlfce,”  etc.,  etc.,  .  $0  50 

This  is  written  in  the  author’s  best  style, 
■faking  an  Interesting  and  attractive  story  for 
children. 


•Little  Girl  in  Black.  121110,  212 

pages.  By  Margaret  E.  Wil- 

MER, . $0  90 

Her  strong  faith  in  God,  who  she  believes 
will  reclaim  an  erring  father,  is  a  lesson  to  the 
reader,  old  as  well  as  young. 

Temperance  Anecdotes,  nmo,  288 

pages, . $1  00 

This  new  book  of  Temperance  Anecdotes, 
edited  by  George  W.  Bungay,  contains  near¬ 
ly  four  hundred  Anecdotes,  Witticisms,  Jokes, 
Conundrums,  etc.,  original  and  selected,  and 
will  meet  a  want  long  felt  and  often  expressed 
by  a  very  large  number  of  the  numerous  friends 
0!  the  cause  in  the  land.  The  book  is  hand¬ 
somely  illustrated  with  twelve  choice  wood 
engravings. 

The  Temperance  Speaker.  By  J. 

N.  Stearns, . $0  75 

The  book  contains  288  pages  of  Declamations 
and  Dialogues  suitable  tor  Sunday  and  Day- 
Schools,  Bands  of  Hope,  and  Temperance  Or¬ 
ganizations.  It  consists  of  choice  selections 
of  prose  and  poetry,  botli  new  and  old,  I rom 
tlie  Temperance  orators  and  writers  of  the 
country,  many  of  which  have  been  written  ex¬ 
pressly  for  this  work. 


The  McAllisters.  181110,  211  pages. 

By  Mrs.  E.  J.  Richmond,  .  $0  50 

It  shows  the  ruin  brought  on  a  family  by  the 
father’s  intemperate  habits,  and  the  strong 
faith  and  trust  of  the  wife  In  that  Friend  above 
who  alone  gives  strength  te  bear  our  earthly 
trials. 


The  Se 

By  V. 


yinours.  nmo,  231  pa. 

Liss  L.  Bates,  .  . 


es. 

00 


A  simple  story,  showing  how  a  refined  and 
cultivated  family  are  brought  low  through  the 
drinking  habits  of  the  father,  their  joy  and  sor- 
row  as  he  reform*  only  to  fall  again,  and  his 
final  happy  release  In  a  distant  city. 


4 


The  National  Temperance  Society  s  Books 


Em’s  Engagement  Ring.  121110,  189 
pages.  By  Margaret  E.  Wil- 
mer,  author  of  “  The  Little  Girl 
in  Black,” . $0  90 

In  this  interesting  volume  is  traced  the  career 
of  the  moderate  drinker,  who  takes  a  glass  in 
the  name  of  friendship  or  courtesy. 

Packington  Parish,  and  The  Diver’s 
Daughter.  121110, 327  pages.  By 
Miss  M.  A.  Paull,  .  .  .  $1  2o 

In  this  volume  we  see  the  ravages  which 
the  liquor  traffic  caused  when  introduced  in  a 
hitherto  quiet  village,  and  how  a  minister’s  eyes 
were  at  length  opened  to  its  evils,  though  he 
had  always  declared  wine  to  be  a  “  good 
creature  of  God,”  meant  to  be  used  in  modera¬ 
tion. 

Old  Times.  121110.  By  Miss  M.  D. 
Chellis,  author  of  “  The  Tem- 

Perance  Doctor,”  “Out  of  the 
"ire,”  “  Aunt  Dinah’s  Pledges” 
“At  Lion's  Mouth,”  etc.,  .  $1  25 

It  discusses  the  whole  subject  of  moderate 
drinking  in  the  history  of  a  New  England  vil¬ 
lage.  The  incidents,  various  and  amusing,  are 
all  facts,  and  the  characters  nearly  all  drawn 
from  real  life.  The  five  deacons  which  figure 
*0  conspicuously  actually  lived  and  acted  as  re¬ 
presented. 


The  Fire  Fighters.  i2tno,  §94  page*. 
By  Mrs.  J.  E.  McConaughy,  au¬ 
thor  of  “  The  Hard  Master,” 

$1  25 

An  admirable  story,  showing  how  a  number 
of  young  lads  banded  themselves  into  a  society 
to  fight  against  Alcohol,  and  the  good  they  did 
in  the  community. 

The  Jewelled  Serpent.  121110,  271 
pages.  By  Mrs.  E.  J.  Richmond, 
author  of  “  Adopted,”  “The  Mc¬ 
Allisters,”  etc., . $1  00 

The  story  is  written  earnestly.  The  charac¬ 
ters  are  well  delineated,  and  taken  from  the 
wealthy  and  fashionable  portion  of  a  large  city. 
The  evils  which  flow  from  fashionable  drink¬ 
ing  are  well  portrayed,  and  also  the  danger 
arising  from  the  use  of  intoxicants  when  used  as 
medicine,  forming  an  appetite  which  fastens 
itself  with  a  deadly  hold  upon  its  victim. 

The  Hole  in  the  Bag,  and  Other 
Stories.  By  Mrs.  J.  P.  Ballard, 
author  of  “  The  Broken  Rock.” 
“  Lift  a  Little,”  etc.  121110,  $1  00 

A  collection  of  well-written  stories  by  this 
most  popular  author  on  the  subject  of  temper¬ 
ance,  inculcating  many  valuable  lessons  In  the 
minds  of  its  readers. 


The  Youth’s  Temperance  Banner. 

The  National  Temperance  Society  and  Publication  House  publish  a 
beautifully  illustrated  Monthly  Paper,  especially  adapted  to  phildren  and 
youth,  Sunday-school  and  Juvenile  Temperance  Organizations.  Each 
number  contains  several  choice  engravings,  a  piece  of  music,  and  a  great 
variety  of  articles  from  the  pens  of  the  best  writers  for  children  in  America. 
It  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  every  child  in  the  land. 


Terms — In  Advance.  *. 


Single  copias,  one  year,  .  .  $0  25 
Eignt  copies,  to  one  address,  1  00 

Ten  “  “  “  1  25 

Fifteen  “  “  “  1  88 

Twenty  “  “  “  2  60 


Thirty  copies  to  one  address,  $3  75 

Forty  “  “  “  5  00 

Fifty  “  “  “  6  25 

One  Hundred  “  “  12  00 


Children’s  Tracts. 

A  series  of  forty-live  illustrated  children’s  tracts  have  been  published, 
adapted  for  circulation  in  Sunday-schools.  Per  thousand,  $3. 

Packet  of  Pictorial  Tracts  for  Children, . $0  25 

A  valuable  packet  of  72  of  the  above  Tracts  for  the  Children,  suitable 
for  distribution  in  Sunday-Schools,  Bands  of  Hope,  and  other  Juvenile 
Temperance  organizations. 


J 


The  National  Temperance  Society  s  Books . 


Miscellaneous 

Forty  Years’  Figlit  with  the  Drink 
Demon.  i2ino,  400  pages.  By 
Charles  Jewett,  M.D.,  .  VI  oh 

This  volume  comprises  the  history  of  Dr. 
Jewett’s  public  and  private  labors  from  1826  to 
the  present  time,  with  sketches  of  the  most 
popular  and  distinguished  advocates  ot  the 
cause  in  its  earlier  stages.  It  also  records  the 
results  of  forty  years’ observation,  study,  and 
reflections  upon  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks 
and  drugs,  and  suggestions  as  to  the  best-,, 
methods  of  advancing  the  cause,  etc.  1  he  book 
is  handsomely  bound,  and  contains  illustrated 
portraits  of  early  champions  of  the  cause. 

Drops  of  Water.  121110,  133  pages. 
By  Miss  Ella  Wheeler,  $0  <0 

A  new  book  of  fifty-six  Temperance  Poems 
by  this  young  and  talented  authoress,  suitable 
for  reading  in  Temperance  Societies,  Lodge 
Rooms,  Divisions,  etc.  The  simplicity  of  man¬ 
ner  beauty  of  expression,  earnestness  ot 
thought,  and  nobleness  of  sentiment  running 
through  all  of  them  make  this  hook  a  real 
gem,  worthy  a  place  by  the  side  of  any  ot  the 
poetry  in  the  country. 

Bound  Volume  of  Tracts.  50° 

pages, . ipl  00 

This  volume  contains  all  the  four,  eight,  and 
twelve  page  tracts  published  by  the  National 
Temperance  Society, including  all  the  prize 
tracts  issued  the  last  two  years.  The  hook 
comprises  Arguments,  Statistics,  Sketches,  and 
Essays,  which  make  it  an  invaluable  collection 
for  every  friend  of  the  Temperance  Reform. 

Scripture  Testimony  Against  In¬ 
toxicating  Wine.  By  Rev.  M  m. 
Ritchie,  of  Scotland,  .  .  SpO  60 

An  unanswerable  refutation  of  the  theory 
that  the  Scriptures  favor  the  idea  of  the 
use  of  intoxicating  wine  as  a  beverage.  It 
takes  the  different  kinds  of  wines  mentioned  m 
the  Scriptures,  investigates  their  specific  na¬ 
ture,  and  shows  wherein  they  diner. 

Alcohol :  Its  Place  and  Power,  by 

James  Miller  ;  and  The  Use  and 
Abuse  of  Tobacco,  by  John  Li- 

. . nw 

Zoological  Temperance  Convention. 

By  Rev.  Edward  Hitchcock, 
D.D  ,  of  Amherst  College,  $0  75 

This  fable  gives  an  interesting  and  entertain¬ 
ing  account  of  a  Convention  of  Animals  held 
in  Central  Africa,  and  reports  the  speeches 
made  on  the  occasion. 


Publications. 

Dela van’s  Consideration  of  t  he  Tcm- 
perance  Argument  and  History, 

1  $1  50 

This  condensed  and  comprehensive  work  con¬ 
tains  Essays  and  Selections  Irom  different  au¬ 
thors,  collected  and  edited  by  Edward  (  .  Dh- 
1.  w  an.  Esq.,  and  is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
text-hooks  on  the  subject  of  Temperance  ever 
issued. 


Bible  Rule  of  Temperance:  or, 
Total  Abstinence  from  ail  Intox¬ 
icating  Drinks.  By  Rev.  George 
Duffield,  D.D.,  .  .  .  .  $0  00 

This  is  the  ablest  and  most  reliable  work 
which  has  been  issued  on  the  subject.  The  im¬ 
morality  of  the  use,  sale,. an  l  manufacture  ot 
intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  is  considered 
in  the  light  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  will  and 
law  of  God  clearly  presented. 


Llcohol:  Its  Nature  and  Effects. 

By  Charles  A.  Storey,  M.D., 


This  is  a  thoroughly  scientific  work,  yet 
written  in  afresh,  vigorous,  and  popular  style, 
in  language  that  the  masses  can  understand. 
It  consists  of  ten  lectures  carefully  prepared, 
and  is  an  entirely  new  work  by  one  amply  com¬ 
petent  to  present  the  subject. 

Four  Pillars  of  Temperance.  By 

John  W.  Kirton,  .  .  .  $0  75 

The  Four  Pillars  are,  Reason,  Science,  Scrip¬ 
ture,  and  Experience.  The  book  is  argumenta¬ 
tive,  historical,  and  statistical,  and  the  tacts, 
appeals,  amt  arguments  are  presented  in  a  most 
convincing  and  masterly  manner 

Communion  Wine;  or,  Bible  Tem¬ 
perance.  By  Rev.  W  illiam  M. 
Thayer.  Paper,  20  cents  ;  cloth, 


An  unanswerable  argument  against  the  use 
of  intoxicating  wine  at  Communion,  and  pre¬ 
senting  the  Bible  argument  in  favor  of  total 
abstinence. 


Laws  of  Fermentation  and  Wines 
of  the  Ancients.  i2mo,  129  pages. 
By  Rev.  Wm,  Patton,  H.D 
Paper,  30  cts.  :  cloth,  .  .  $0  60 

It  presents  the  whole  matter  of  Bible  Tcui- 
pernuce  and  the  wiuca  of  alien  nt  times  in  a 
new,  clear,  and  satis  artory  manner,  develop 
ing  the  laws  of  ferment  at  ion,  and  giving  a  large 
number  of  references  and  statistics  never  before 
collected,  showing  conclusively  the  existence  ot 
unl'erineuted  wine  in  the  olden  time. 


6 


The  National  Temperance  Society's  Books. 


Text-Book  of  Temperance.  By 
Dr.  F.  R.  Lees,  .  .  .  .  $1  50 

AYe  can  also  furnish  the  above  book,  which  13 
divided  into  the  following  parts :  1.  Temper¬ 
ance  as  a  Virtue.  '2.  The  Chemical  History  of 
Alcohol.  3  The  Dietetics  of  Temperance.  4. 
The  Pathology  of  Intemper  ,n-e.  5.  The  Medi¬ 

cal  Question.  G  Temperance  in  Relation  to 
the  Bible.  7.  Historical.  8.  The  National 
Q  testion  and  the  Remedy.  9  The  Philosophy 
of  Temperance. 

Bugle  Notes  for  the  Temperance 
Army.  Price,  paper  covers,  30 
cents ;  boards, . $0  35 

A  new  collection  of  Songs,  Quartets,  and 
Glew,  adapted  to  the  use  of  all  Temperance 


gatherings,  Glee  Clubs,  etc.,  together  with  the 
Odes  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  anil  Good 
Templars. 

Temperance  Chimes.  Price,  in 
paper  covers,  30  cents,  single 
copies  ;  $25  per  hundred.  Price, 
in  board  covers,  35  cents ;  per 
hundred, . $30  00 

A  Temperance  Hymn  and  Tune-Book  of  128 
page*,  comprising  a  greit  variety  of  Glees, 
Songs,  and  Hymns  designed  for  the  use  of  T em- 
perauce  Meetings  and  Organizations,  Bands  of 
Hope,  Giec  Clubs,  and  the  Home  Circle.  Many 
of  the  Hymns  have  been  written  expressl  y  for 
this  boolc  by  some  of  the  best  writers  in  the 
country. 


Pamphlets. 


John  Swig.  A  Poem.  By  Edward 
Carswell.  i2ino,  24  pages.  Il¬ 
lustrated  with  eight  characteristic 
engravings,  printed  on  tinted 
paper, . $0  15 

The  Rum  Fiend,  and  Other  Poems. 
By  William  H.  Burleigh.  121110. 
46  pages.  Illustrated  with  three 
wood  engravings,  des  gned  by 
Edward  Carswell.  .  .  .  $0  20 

Suppression  of  the  Liquor  Traffic. 

A  Prize  Essay,  by  Rev.  H.  D. 
Kitcheli.,  President  of  Middle- 
bury  College.  i2mo,  48  pp.,  $0  10 


Bound  aud  How ;  or,  Alcohol  as  a 
Narcotic.  By  Charles  Jewett, 
M  D.  i2ino,  24  pp.,  .  .  .  $0  10 

Scriptural  Claims  of  Total  Abstin¬ 
ence.  By  Rev.  Newman  Hall. 
i2mo,  62  pp., . $0  15 

Buy  Your  Own  Cherries.  By  John 
W.  Kirton.  12010,  32  pp.,  $0  20 

National  Temperance  Almanac  and 
Teetotaler’s  Year  Book  for  1873, 

$0  10 

Illustrated  Temperance  Alphabet, 

$0  25 


Twenty-four  Page  Pamphlets.  (With  Covers.) 

Five  Cents  each  ;  00  Cents  per  Doz. 

Is  Alcohol  Food  ?  By  Dr.  F.  R.  Lees. 

Physiological  Action  of  Alcohol.  By  Prof.  Henry  Munroe. 
Adulteration  of  Liquors.  By  Rev.  j.  B.  Dunn. 

Will  the  Coming  Man  Brink  Wine  1  By  James  Parton,  Esq. 
History  and  Mystery  of  a  (Hass  of  Ale.  By  J.  W.  Kirton. 

Bible  Teetotalism.  By  Rev.  Peter  Stryker. 

Medicinal  Drinking.  By  Rev.  John  Kirk. 

Drinking  Usages  of  Society.  By  Bishop  Alonzo  Potter. 

Fruits  of  the  Liquor  Traffic.  By  Sumner  Stebbins,  M.D. 

Is  Alcohol  a  Necessary  of  Life  1  By  Prof.  Henry  Munror. 

A  High  Fence  of  15  Bars.  By  the  author  of  u  Lunarius.” 


Packet  of  Assorted  Tracts,  No.  1.  Comprising  Nos.  i  to  53  put  up  in 
strong  paper  covers,  making  250  pages,  .  .  .  .  .  $0  25 

Packet  or  Assorted  Tracts,  No.  2.  Comprising  53  to  100,  making  250 

pages . $0  25 

*  7 


The  National  Temperance  Society  s  Books. 


Temperance  Sermons. 


$o 


The  National  Temperance  Society  are  publishing  a  series  of  Sermons  upon  various  p.iases  of 
the  Temperance  Question  by  some  of  the  leadiug  clergymen  in  America.  I  he  following  are 
already  published  : 

1.  Common  Sense  for  Young  Men.  By  Rev.  Ii.  AY  .  Beecher, 

Moral  Duty  of  Total  Abstinence.  By  Rev.  T.  L.  Cuylkr,  . 

Tho  Evil  Beast.  By  Rev.  T.  De  AY'itt  Talmage, 

The  Good  Samaritan.  By  Rev.  J.  B.  Dunn,  .  .  .  . 

Self-Denial :  A  Duty  and  a  Pleasure.  By  Rev.  J.  P.  Newman 

D.D.,  Chaplain  ot  the  United  States  Senate . 

The  Church  and  Temperance.  'By  John  \\r.  Mears,  D.D.,  Pro¬ 
fessor  of  Hamilton  College,  New  York . 

Active  Pity  of  a  queen.  By  Rev.  John  Hall^  D.D  ,  . 

Temperance  and  tiie  Pulpit.  By  Rev.  C.  D.  Toss,  D.D.,  . 

The  Evils  of  Intemperance.  By  Rev.  J.  Romeyn  Berry,  . 

Liberty  and  Love.  By  Rev.  Henry  AVard  Beecher, 

The  Wine  and  the  Word.  By  Rev.  Herrick  Johnson, 

12.  Strange  Children.  By  Rev.' Peter  Stryker,  .  •  • 

13.  Impeachment  and  Punishment  of  Alcohol.  Rev.  C.  H.Towler 

14.  Drinking  for  Health.  By  Rev.  H.  C.  Fish,  •  •  • 

15.  Scientific  Certainties  (not  Opinions)  about  Alcohol.  By  Rev 

.  H.  AYr.  Warren,  .  .  .  •  •  •  • 

Example  and  Effort.  An  Address  by  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax 


2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 
9. 

10. 

11. 


15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 

15 


50 

00 

00 

60 

15 

16 
00 
00 
50 
10 


The  Total  Abstainer’s  Daily  Witness  and  Bible  \erdict.  to  Cents. 

This  is  :i  series  of  Scripture  Texts  printed  on  thirly-one  Urge  sheets,  arranged  so  that  one  can 
be  used  for  each  day  in  the  month.  The  sine  of  each  sheet  is  19  by  12  inches,  all  listened  together 
with  roller  and  cord,  so  as  to  be  easily  hung  up  in  room,  office,  workshop,  etc.  ;  and  turning  over 
a  sheet  day  by  day  as  desired. 

New  Temperance  Dialogues- 

The  First  Glass  ;  or,  The  Power  of  Woman’s  Influence. 

The  Young  Teetotaler  ;  or,  Saved  at  Last.  15  cents  each.  Per  dozen,  - 
Reclaimed  ;  or,  The  Danger  of  Moderate  Drinking.  10  cents.  Per  dozen,  *  *  - 

Marry  No  Man  if  He  Drinks  ;  or,  Laura’s  Plan,  and  How  it  Succeeded.  10  cts.  Icrdoz., 

Which  Will  You  Choose!  36  pages.  By  Miss  M.  D.  Chellls.  15  cents.  Per  dozen, - 
Aunt  Dinah’s  Pledge.  Dramatized  from  the  Book,  ------- 

The  Temperance  Doctor.  Dramatized  from  the  Book,  - . 

Wine  as  a  Medicine.  XI)  cents.  Pec  dozen,  -  ------- 

The  Stumbling-Block.  10  cents.  Per  dozen, . 

Trial  and  Condemnation  of  Judas  Woemaker.  15  cents.  Per  dozen, 

Temperance  Exercise, 

Band  of  Hope  Supplies. 

Band  of  Hope  Manual.  Per  doz., . 

Temperance  Catechism.  Per  doz., . 

Band  of  Hope  Melodics.  Paper,  .  .  .  •  • 

Baud  of  Hope  Badge.  Enamelled,  $1  25  per  doz. ;  12  cents  singly 
Plain,  #1  per  dozen  ;  10  cents  singly.  Silver  and  Enamelled 
60  cents  each. 

Juvenile  Temperance  Speaker, . 

Illuminated  Temperance  Cards.  Set  of  ten . 

Juvenile  Temperance  Pledges.  Per  hundred,  .... 

Certificates  of  Membership.  Per  hundred, 
the  Temperance  Speaker,  ... 

jS.nt  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receipt  ofurlee  Address 

Y  J.  N.  STEARNS,  Publishing  Agent, 

5#  UEADlE  STREET,  NEW  YORK 


$0 


00 

00 

10 


35 

00 

00 

75 


Date  Due 


0  Z0VZP910 


1-606  6 


393TI0D  NOlSOa 


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.  vrr  v 


& 


^BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  HEIGHTS 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


Books  may  be  kept  for  two  weeks  and  may  be 
renewed  for  the  same  period,  unless  reserved. 

Two  cents  a  day  is  charged  for  each  book  kept 
overtime. 

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If  you  cannot  find  what  you  want,  ask  the 
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The  borrower  is  responsible  for  books  drawn 
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